Newly poor swell lines at Americas food banks

Once a crutch for the most needy,food pantries have responded to the recession by opening their doors to what Rosemary Gilmartin...

Once a crutch for the most needy,food pantries have responded to the recession by opening their doors to what Rosemary Gilmartin,who runs the Interfaith Food Pantry here,described as the next layer of people a rapidly expanding roster of child-care workers,nurses aides,real estate agents and secretaries facing a financial crisis for the first time.

Demand at food banks across the country increased by 30 per cent in 2008 from the previous year,according to a survey by Feeding America,which distributes more than two billion pounds of food every year. And instead of their usual drop in customers after the holidays,many pantries in upscale suburbs this year are seeing the opposite.

Here in Morris County,one of the wealthiest counties in the country,the Interfaith pantry opened for an extra night last week to accommodate the growing crowds. Among the first-time visitors were Cindy Dreeszen and her husband,who both have steady jobs his at a movie theater and hers at a government office with a combined annual income of about $55,000.

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But with a 17-month-old son,another baby on the way,and,as Dreeszen put it,the cost of everything going up and up, the couple showed up in search of free groceries. I didnt think wed even be allowed to come here, said Dreeszen,41,glancing around at the shelves of fruit,whole-wheat pasta and baby food.

In Lake Forest,Illinois,a wealthy Chicago suburb,a pantry in an Episcopal church that used to attract people from less affluent towns nearby has lately been flooded with people who have lost jobs. In Greenwich,Conneticut,a pantry organiser reported a tremendous increase in demand for food since December,with out-of-work landscapers and housekeepers as well as real estate professionals.

And amid the million-dollar houses of Marin County in California,a pantry at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center last month changed its policy to allow people to stop by once a week instead of every other week,since there are so many new faces in line alongside the regulars. Were seeing people who work at banks,for software firms,for marketing firms,and theyre all losing their jobs, said Dave Cort,the executive director. Here we are in big,fancy Marin County,but we have people who are standing in line with their eyes wide open,thinking,Oh,my God,I cant believe Im here.

The demand is not limited to pantries,which distribute groceries from food banks,supermarket surplus and individuals who donate through church or school can drives. The number of food-stamp recipients was up by 17 per cent across New York State,and 12 per cent in New Jersey,in November from a year before.