- Jackson neighborhood food pantries discuss whether rising egg prices are impacting the help they provide.
- Pantry managers say they haven't noticed any adverse impact, but applications for food assistance overall are up, says one.
- WATCH THE VIDEO for details from food pantry workers.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
I recently talked to neighbors in Hillsdale County who are crossing state lines to Indiana for cheaper eggs.
Here in Jackson, I visited a few of our food pantries serving neighbors in need to find out what impact, if any, the price of eggs is having on the work they are doing to help.
My first stop was the Salvation Army Food Pantry in Jackson.
A new state law says eggs sold in Michigan must be cage-free. That means the hens that lay them weren't living in a cage.
With egg prices going up in neighborhood stores, I asked Pantry Assistant Henry Ambs what impact that's having on food at the pantry.
He says: "Nothing."
Ambs says donations of eggs have usually been irregular, so a trend could be hard to spot:
"It's hit and miss. Some days we might get a whole bunch. Some days we get one or two dozen."
Ambs says eggs are donated by local stores and sometimes farmers.
Over at the Interfaith Shelter, Kitchen Manager Kevin Smith says he's not seeing egg prices impact donations to the Shelter right now, either.
"A few years back, when there was something going on with the eggs, a lot of the farmers were donating a little bit less to us," says Smith. "But currently we've seen no impact."
Calls to two other pantries confirmed the same: they don't buy the eggs. Instead, they're donated, and staff see no drop off in donations.
What Ambs tells me the Salvation Army is noticing is a significant increase in daily applications for food help:
"On average, we were getting 15 or 20, 25. Now we've been getting 40 a day."
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