In the wake of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, prices of goods like oil and gas have been rising. Food banks across Michigan are working to keep up with increasing demand.
Ken Estelle is the President & CEO of Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank, which serves 40 counties and about 800 partners in the state. He said rising gas prices are affecting their budget because their distribution relies on transporting food in trucks throughout a service area of about 700 miles.
“Diesel fuel is currently a big challenge for us because it's over $5 a gallon, which is more than what we had planned on,” Estelle said. “So basically we're right now spending about $7,000 a month more on diesel fuel than what we would have planned, which is equivalent to about 28,000 meals.”
Federal funding cuts have also been an issue for food banks in Michigan and across the country. The Trump Administration cut $500 million–about a quarter of the 2024 funding– from the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), according to a ProPublica report.
Estelle said about 30% of the food their Feeding America food bank distributes is through federal programs, primarily TEFAP.
Under the “Big Beautiful Bill”, Americans are seeing the largest cut to funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in its history.
Estelle said more people are looking for food assistance after changes to SNAP qualification rules, which is a challenge to manage.
He said moving forward, Feeding America West Michigan is looking at ways to build out food acquisition, encourage community support, and get the necessary funding to continue to operate.
Kristin Sokul is the Senior Director of Advancement Communications, Marketing, and Media/PR for Gleaners Community Food Bank, which serves about 300 different agencies, soup kitchens and pantries in Southeast Michigan.
“In one calendar year, we saw a deficit of 9 million pounds of donated food,” she said. “And that came from the USDA [U.S Department of Agriculture], which had reduced their donated food to us by about 5 million pounds year over year, and then other food donating resources, private donors.”
Sokul said their funding consists of a mix of direct donations, either through organizations or individuals, grants, and government sources.
She added that Gleaners has been working to make up the deficit of donations through diversifying food sources, allocating more funds, purchasing more food themselves, and minimizing food waste.
“Through times of challenge, we have seen our community come together to support our neighbors for the hunger-free communities that we know are possible,” Sokul said. “And this is an opportunity for our community to come together again.”
