Hunger on Cape: Local food pantries serve growing number of Cape Codders

Thoughts of Cape Cod often engender visions of a playground with sunny skies, sandy beaches and scenic views. But side by side with its many attractions there is a substantial and growing level of food insecurity that affects many of the Cape’s year-round residents.

The Cape has always had some level of nutritional insecurity, Chris Menard, executive director of the Family Pantry of Cape Cod in Harwich, said adding that it’s a part of the Cape’s fabric of seasonal unemployment and the high cost of living common in a tourist-heavy economy. But the number of people in need, she says, has substantially increased over the past year.

Within Cape Cod's year-round population of about 230,000 residents, upwards of 10% are currently experiencing food insecurity or difficulty affording nutritious foods on a reliable basis, Menard said. This year the number of those seeking assistance on Cape Cod may total more than 25,000 people, she said.

The Harwich pantry, at 133 Queen Anne Road, is the largest on the Cape and serves about 600 families each week, or 13,000 a year. Pantry figures show that over the past year they have distributed more than 100,000 bags of groceries to those seeking assistance.

The Cape Cod Hunger Network, a local coalition that helps assess the area’s food programs, lists 15 Cape Cod towns with food pantries, all part of the Greater Boston Food Bank, with multiple locations in some areas — such as nine in Barnstable, six in Yarmouth — for a total of 47 individual pantries.

The Food Bank delivers food each week by tractor trailer to Harwich, with the main delivery each Friday and a smaller one on Mondays. Other pantries across the Cape then pick up their weekly supplies from Harwich.

The end of pandemic relief programs spurs food insecurity

The growing food insecurity on Cape Cod, Menard said, has been made worse by national and international events. By December 2021, she says, federal pandemic relief money had dried up, and there were holdover supply chain issues set in motion by pandemic shortages. Add to that the war in Ukraine and a rise in gas prices, followed by record-breaking inflation in all sectors of the economy, she noted.

Some who came here during the pandemic decided to stay, Menard said, upping the demand for already-scarce housing. All of this has added to the financial difficulties for many year-round residents in making ends meet, she said.

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According to the Family Pantry website, nearly half of those who need food assistance are not eligible for government benefits such as food stamps or other supplemental programs, because their incomes come in just above the federal poverty level. Two-thirds of this group has one or more employed persons in the household, but still can’t cover the cost of living on Cape Cod.

Cape Cod Outreach sees 60% increase in clients needing food assisatance

Karen Ross, director of operations for the Lower Cape Outreach Council, which oversees nine food pantries in eight Lower and Outer Cape towns, says that, for many who live and work here, it's an issue of having to choose among the bills that can be paid. Food, she says, has “almost become an extra.” That’s where the Cape’s many food pantries and assistance networks come into play.

Until recently, Ross said, the council area would typically serve about 500 families a month, but this year has seen a 60% increase in clients: 308 families in January, 503 in February; 780 in September and 805 in October.

The numbers did not abate in summer, as would normally occur during those months when more people have employment, Ross said. And the need for food assistance does not fall into just one category of the population but exists across the board in every age group for men, women and children.

The good news, Menard said, is that Cape Cod has the infrastructure in place to address those problems. Larger pantries such as the one in Harwich have no geographical or town-based restrictions for those who need help.

“Nobody is turned away,” she says. “If you are struggling, come by. ... We’re open to anyone who needs help.”

Susan Johnson, executive director of the Cape Cod Times Needy Fund, says the 86-year-old assistance program has helped more than 4,000 clients over the past year, providing temporary financial assistance to clients experiencing a severe budget crisis.

Calls for food assistance alone, she said, are up more than 47% over this period last year. The Fund’s staff works “in real-time,” she says, helping clients get through a current financial crisis. Intake volunteers often help clients look at the bigger picture and work to create budgets for the future, she said.

Family Table Collaborative provide prepared meals

The Family Table Collaborative in South Yarmouth delivers between 200 and 500 prepared meals each week to community organizations from Bourne and Falmouth to Eastham, where they are picked up by members of the public.

The collaborative, located at 1338 Main St., South Yarmouth, opened in 2020 in response to an expanding nutritional crisis during the COVID pandemic, under the direction of food entrepreneur Jeni Wheeler. The collaborative continued the program and has now delivered more than 100,000 nutritious, prepared meals and 25,000 pounds of fresh produce, with the help of more than 240 volunteers.

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A culinary expert, Wheeler holds free nutritional classes both remotely and in person through Hyannis Public Library.

The collaborative, located at the former Riverway Lobster House in South Yarmouth, prepares its fresh meals with food donated by local farms, the Fishermen’s Alliance, area restaurants and grocery store chains.

Where to get help:

Cape Cod Times Needy Fund: 508-778-5661; www.needyfund.org

Family Pantry of Cape Cod: 133 Queen Anne Road, Harwich; 508-432-6519; www.Thefamilypantry.com

Family Table Collaborative: 1338 Main St., South Yarmouth; 508-398-2172; www.familytablecollaborative.org

Falmouth Service Center: 611 Gifford St., Falmouth; 508-548-2794; www.falmouthservicecenter.org/

Lower Cape Outreach Council: 19 Brewster Cross Road, Orleans; 508-240-0694; lcoutreach.org/

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod food pantries see 60% spike in need for services