DARTMOUTH, NS – It’s no secret that it’s costing more to buy your groceries lately.
The cost of food is rising across the country and it’s leaving many services and organizations feeling the pinch.
Three times a week, the Dartmouth Meals on Wheels program works to prepare and deliver hot, nutritious meals for people who can’t do it themselves.
The organization has been around for years, but says lately the price of food is sky-rocketing and that’s creating some real challenges.
“We struggle to maintain our costs and try to get the best value that we can,” said Diane Rose with Meals on Wheels. “It’s becoming more and more difficult.”
Many of the programs clients are seniors and on a fixed income. The organization tries to keep the price the same for those who need the meals by looking for alternative ways to save money.
“We can’t just go to one supplier, we have to look around, we have to shop bargains, we have to shop sales. There’s a number of things we have to do to keep our food costs in line,” said Rose.
With the cost of food continuing to rise, Meals on Wheels says they’re looking at new ways to bring in money. Ways that will allow them to continue to serve hundreds of meals a week in the Dartmouth area.
“We’re gonna have to do more fundraising as an organization just to maintain the status quo,” Rose told Global News.
The cost of food in Nova Scotia has risen 18% from 2002 to 2009, and continues to climb steadily. Food banks in our region say they’re seeing more people utilize their service, notably people that don’t typically come to the food bank.
“Last week, I had 6 new families and they are people that had been working, but they got laid off or whatever,” said Pat Rodenhiser, CEO with the East Dartmouth Christian Food Bank.
On top of seeing more customers, food banks are receiving less food and few monetary donations to help those in need.
“This is the worst it has been,” Rodenhiser said. “One week in August, the food bank wasn’t able to supply us any bread, and those people really missed it, as you know, bread has gone up to over $2 a loaf.”
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