Tampa resident Kassandra Tatum has to carefully budget to stock her family鈥檚 fridge.
A single mom of two and longtime public school teacher, she said cost increases 鈥� especially at the grocery store 鈥� started outpacing her monthly income last year.
To afford groceries, she clips coupons, shops at two or three store locations to find the best deals and accepts food donations from a local church.
鈥淚鈥檝e cut every single corner. I鈥檝e even reached out to my financial adviser seeing if there鈥檚 anything else I could possibly cut, and there wasn鈥檛,鈥� she said.
In January 2022, she started tracking every dollar that she spent. In 12 months, she said her grocery bill has nearly doubled.
Tatum is one of many Floridians who are finding it harder to afford groceries.
A commissioned by No Kid Hungry among those facing food insecurity, nearly one-in-three respondents lived in middle-class, working households earning between $50,000 to $100,000 a year.
鈥淭he income bracket for those families 鈥� is maybe not what many in our community would think to be true,鈥� said Sky Beard, Florida director for No Kid Hungry.
Among those hit hardest, the survey found that parents (47%) and rural respondents (48%) are struggling to put food on the table.
In the greater Tampa Bay region, individuals and families described their experience with food insecurity this past year, including: regularly skipping meals to feed their children, choosing between bills and groceries and sacrificing healthier foods for cheaper options at the grocery store.
Beard said households that fall above the poverty line 鈥� but still struggle to afford food 鈥� can be left without many options.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our neighbors. It鈥檚 our coworkers. It鈥檚 our family members and it's ourselves who are having to make these difficult decisions,鈥� she said.
Tatum said her family doesn鈥檛 qualify for federal food assistance because she earns too much as a Hillsborough County teacher.
For a family of three to be, the household annual income must fall below around $30,000.
Despite earning close to Tampa鈥檚 median household income, Tatum said she can no longer stretch her income to cover climbing costs.
Though reluctant, Tatum plans to change careers after nearly two decades as a teacher in Hillsborough County.
To locate food assistance resources in your community text 'FOOD' or 'COMIDA' to 304-304.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. She's also a corps member. Here鈥檚 how you can with her.
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