A row of mostly empty shelves inside the Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s distribution center on Niantic Avenue in Providence. (Photo courtesy of Rhode Island Community Food Bank)
As food insecurity continues to surge across the state, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank is sounding the alarm that more of its shelves are empty at its Providence distribution center.
Between July 2023 and June 2024, the food bank distributed 18.3 million pounds of food to feed a monthly average of 82,600 people — an increase of more than 2 million pounds over the same one-year period ending in June 2023.
Food is accessed through a statewide network of 147 local and regional food pantries, including the three operated by the East Bay Community Action Program where leaders said it’s not uncommon to see someone who once donated food come in for services.
Rhode Island Community Food Bank CEO Andrew Schiff attributes the increase in food pantry demand to two major factors: high living costs and the end of pandemic-era food programs and benefits.