Скачать или смотреть Consumers continue to feel impacts of high inflation

(31 Mar 2023)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
St. Joseph, Missouri - 30 March 2023
1. Pallet of vegetables being moved by forklift
2. Various shots of vegetables
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Michelle Fagerstone, Second Harvest Community Food Bank:
"In particular, our senior population was really being affected by those double digit inflation numbers and even still today. When eggs started to skyrocket, meat's gone up tremendously, a gallon of milk, you know, staple products that our seniors needed, they were really being affected by the inflation and still are."
4. Various food items in storage at food bank
5. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Jennifer Schultz, St. Joseph resident:
"I'm going to say I see it most in groceries just because that's like, you know, weekly we have to go get groceries. And so what I look at, you know, I mean, sometimes it's even like leading to unhealthier habits because like, okay, I can go get like a $5 meal at Wendy's, which isn't healthy, but that's cheaper than buying the ingredients to make a meal at home. And so I definitely I would say that's the place where I'm feeling it the most."
6. Packaged cheese on store shelf
7. Various food items on store shelf
8. Current gas prices
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Michelle Fagerstone, Second Harvest Community Food Bank:
"When it comes to those that are going through our fresh mobile, we're also seeing families that we haven't seen that we didn't even see during COVID. But now we're seeing them because while they survived COVID, now they're seeing, you know, $3 a gallon gas. Again, it's the cost of just keeping the staples on the table that is, I believe, driving people to look for their local food pantry, come to the mobile distribution sites."
10. Gas pump price going up
11. Gas pump in car
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Jennifer Schultz, St. Joseph resident:
"I think it's the businesses, because when you look at when you look at the businesses, like oil companies are profiting, they've had hugely profitable years, some of their most profitable years in the last couple of years, which says to me that they're probably price gouging a little bit and kind of taking advantage and using it as an excuse to raise prices. Meanwhile, CEOs are making millions of dollars and their employees are not seeing that same raise in their income that the CEOs are seeing in theirs. So I kind of think it's the business."
13. Diesel gas price
14. Second Harvest food boxes on shelf
15. Sweet potatoes on display
STORYLINE:
While the Federal Reserve has attempted to corral inflation by raising key lending rates, it has had little impact on consumers when they buy gas or get groceries.

The Second Harvest Community Food Bank in St. Joseph, Missouri saw a slight decrease in the number of people in need as the pandemic came to an end. However, the need quickly rose again as inflation rates increased.

Michelle Fagerstone, Chief Development Officer of the Second Harvest Community Food Bank said that the demographics of those they helped changed as inflation rose.

"In particular, our senior population was really being affected by those double-digit inflation numbers and even still today. When eggs started to skyrocket, meat's gone up tremendously, a gallon of milk, you know, staple products that our seniors needed, they were really being affected by the inflation and still are."

Fagerstone said that they are also seeing an increase in the number of applicants for their senior box program that contains $35 worth of nonperishable food items.





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