2 days ago
Food service closures threaten Boston's nutrition lifeline
Three major food suppliers have closed down this year and eliminated 50,000 pounds of annual donations to local food recovery programs.
Why it matters: Food pantries and community centers that serve vulnerable populations are facing reduced variety and volume of fresh foods.
Some families now need to visit multiple locations each week to get what they need.
State of play: Historically high food prices, an uncertain economic outlook, and difficulties with funding have led several organizations that regularly donated surplus food to close down.
Community nonprofit grocer Daily Table is the most notable, closing all four locations — in Salem, Dorchester, Roxbury and Cambridge — after losing federal funding.
What they're saying: "We're seeing just as many people — up to a third of the population here in Massachusetts — facing food insecurity, but steadily less food and less money going into the overall food security ecosystem," Tim Cavaretta, director of operations at nonprofit distributor Food For Free, told Axios.
Zoom in: The disruption is straining an already-stretched emergency food network in and around Boston.
The closure of Daily Table last month took around 20,000 pounds of food out of Food for Free's system annually.
Freight Farms, a local startup that converted shipping containers into hydroponic farms, also shut down in May, taking 10,000 pounds of fresh greens with it.
Fresh produce delivery service Boston Organics distributed about 20,000 pounds of produce annually. It shut down in February.
Outside Boston, Worcester programs were hit hard by the closure of the Shrewsbury Stop & Shop location that regularly donated to charity programs.
The big picture: The closures come as federal nutrition support is contracting. USDA food distributions to Boston-area food banks dropped by over $3 million this year.
$2.3 million of the canceled food was set to go to the Greater Boston Food Bank. That's around 105,000 cases of produce, protein and dairy.
Meanwhile, anticipated cuts to SNAP benefits threaten to increase demand on outside programs like food banks.
