Food insecurity is increasing in Utah County and food donations typically begin decreasing during spring and summer. While many are helping to provide food for those in need, more can be done.

According to the Utah Food Bank’s website, utahfoodbank.org, about 289,000 Utahns are at risk of missing a meal at this point in time. About 1 in 9 Utah kids are unsure where their next meal is coming from, data says. Last year, the food bank distributed 67.3 million pounds of food to people facing hunger.

“Our growth last year was 52% for the entire year. However, we have experienced an explosive increase in people receiving food the first three months of this year,” said Mike Carter, founder of Tabitha’s Way Local Food Pantry in American Fork. “We served 98% more clients in the first three months of this year than the first three months of last year.”

The primary reason for the huge increase in food insecurity in Utah County is inflation, according to Carter. “Each week, Tabitha’s Way has dozens of new families come in (who) that tell us they have never been to a food pantry before and never thought they would be in a food pantry. They tell us they have always done fine, but now food, housing, medical bills, transportation and so many other things cost so much more that they cannot make ends meet for the first time,” he said.

Each year, Tabitha’s Way has a very strong giving season and then a very lean giving season when it comes to food drives. “In a way, it is kind of like the biblical story of Joseph where there were seven fat years, then seven lean years,” Carter said. “From mid-November through May, we have many school, church and business food drives, the letter carrier drive and the Feed Utah Drive. However, the seven months between June and November, we do not receive anywhere near enough food drives to fulfill our needs.”

In February, more than 500 volunteers, including current and former players from the National Basketball Association, gathered at several locations in Salt Lake City to sort and pack food boxes to give to at-risk families in Utah. “The NBA, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Utah Food Bank and selected local food pantries such as Tabitha’s Way worked together on this wonderful project that delivered 6,700 food boxes and 2,800 hygiene kits to thousands of families in need along the Wasatch Front,” Carter said.

Tabitha’s Way has received over 800 of these boxes and is expected to receive a total of more than 1,000. Included in the boxes were autographed cards from former and current NBA players.

Carter was present when some families opened their donated boxes. “As a family member opened the box and picked up the card, you could see them reading it and then all of a sudden, each family became extremely excited as they saw that their box contained an autographed card from an NBA player who had personally packed the food box for them,” he said. “One mother of five cried as she looked at the food and read the card.”

How can other people help? Carter estimates that the pantry will need 100 or more additional food drives from June to November in 2023 than were held in 2022 to fill the local need. Individuals, organizations, businesses, families and neighborhoods can hold food drives to help collect donations and it is especially helpful if these drives are planned to be annual events.

Another way to help is to donate produce to Tabitha’s Way in American Fork and Spanish Fork as well as Community Action Services in Provo. “You could consider planting an extra row of produce in your garden, or an extra plant or two, and designating that produce for a food pantry,” Carter said. “Usually, the day after you deliver produce to a food pantry, it will be given to a local family in need.”

As summertime approaches, many children in Utah County will no longer have the security of federally subsidized breakfasts and lunches at school. This fact increases the need for food drives and donations at this time of year. “At Tabitha’s Way, we believe that no child in Utah County should ever have to go hungry,” Carter said.

“Requests for food remain high throughout the state. Many people are adjusting to new changes to the (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) where allotments were reduced. We are also approaching the end of the school year where kids are receiving meals as part of their day. When school ends, access to meals is more difficult and families feel an impact on grocery budgets,” said Ginette Bott, Utah Food Bank president. “Summer months are a challenge for those needing assistance.”

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