HARTFORD, Conn. — A dollar does not go as far as it used to at the grocery store. Decades-high inflation has left many families struggling to keep food on the table.
"They have a certain amount of income every month and when you have to choose between food or rent you're choosing between whether you're going to eat or whether you're going to get evicted and that's really really challenging," said Kate Shafer, director of partnerships and support for Hands On Hartford.
That means more people are looking for help from food banks around the state.
Connecticut Foodshare said the need is not as great as it was at the peak of the pandemic, but still exists and is growing once again.
"There's still about 425,000 people here in the state of Connecticut who are food insecure," said Jason Jakubowski, CEO and president of Connecticut Foodshare.
While food banks try to keep up with the demand, they're facing their own challenges related to inflation as well.
"The product that we are out there purchasing has also increased in its cost. For example, a trailer load of peanut butter costs $7,000 more right now than it did a year ago," said Jakubowski.
Transporting it costs more too.
"Most of the trucks out there run on diesel fuel, diesel has gone up about 45% over the last couple of months," Jakubowski said.
Hands On Hartford runs a food pantry that serves the Hartford community. On top of increased costs, supply chain issues also continue to affect them.
"They have times where they just can't get something like rice, all of a sudden there's no rice. We ask folks to make donations but it's hard you know even for the people making donations it's expensive," Shafer said.
However, shelves remain stocked thanks to those who still are able to make donations and the help is there for whoever needs it, despite the challenges.
"We're always adapting, we're always changing, we're doing what we can," Jakubowski said.
Gaby Molina is a reporter and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at mmolina@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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