News West 9 Midland/Odessa- Food prices go up, supply goes down at WTFB

By Nick Lawton
NewsWest 9

ODESSA - Certain foods like peanut butter now cost too much for the West Texas Food Bank.

There's a peanut shortage, causing each jar to jump more than 40 cents in price.

"There's no donated peanut butter out there right now," Earl Graham, West Texas Food Bank Resources Food Coordinator, said. "There's a fungus in the state of Texas or nationwide and there's a peanut shortage."

That's just the first food to jump in price, but not the first food the bank has lost.

There's no peanut butter, no pinto beans and no rice to be found within their walls.

Even government food deliveries are slipping away.

"We got a truckload of pinto beans in a few weeks ago. They're gone," Graham said. "They've to date have canceled 18 USDA truckloads on us this year at about 40,000 lbs. a truck. That's a lot of merchandise."

This is an issue West Texas has seen for many months now, but this time the rising prices are going further, taking a toll on the Basin's hungry kids.

For the "Food 2 Kids" program in Odessa, feeding schoolchildren over the weekends who otherwise wouldn't eat, the rising food prices don't look good for them either.

"We're either going to have to feed less children or provide less food in the sacks, maybe going to something different as far as food items go, maybe something that's less expensive as far as on the meat products," "Food 2 Kids" Chair, Mandi Higgins, said.

"Food 2 Kids" can only afford to spend $4 on each backpack of food for every child to be fed throughout the school year.

Take the price of food past that limit and more empty stomachs become a reality.

"We wouldn't be able to feed the kids all throughout the whole year then," Higgins said. "If it went over $4, there's no way we could continue feeding them through the whole year."

As always, donations are crucial.

You can call the West Texas Food Bank to give donations at (432) 580-6333. "Food 2 Kids" can be reached at (432) 332-0095.