Food pantries in the Florida Keys are struggling to stay stocked up at a time when they鈥檙e seeing demand for food nearly double.
As affordability issues in South Florida continue to strain families, local pantries are reporting an increase in reliance on their services. Meanwhile, food supplies have continued to diminish since the COVID-19 pandemic.
About one in eight Monroe County residents struggled with food insecurity in 2022, according to the latest data from .
鈥淭he bottom line is Monroe is really starving right now,鈥� said Tom Callahan, the CEO for the S.O.S Foundation, the largest food pantry operator in the Keys.
Pantry and food bank operators say there鈥檚 a myriad of reasons for the lack of food available 鈥� from supply chain issues and farmers struggling to keep their land to less donations from corporate partners and the loss of government assistance contracts.
But the issues have culminated into one outcome: less quality food available to people and families that need it 鈥� even as local food pantry operators have become savvy at stretching out food stock to last longer.
The summer months are when pantries worry the most about having food on the shelves. That鈥檚 because when school is out, families using pantry services rely more heavily on them to supplement the school breakfast and lunches that kids are no longer receiving.
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Anni Martinez and her mother have visited the St. Justin鈥檚 food distribution center in Key Largo once a week, every week for over a year. It鈥檚 how they keep their family of seven fed as the cost of living in the Keys rises.
鈥淚'm the oldest of five kids, so we kind of need that extra help food wise, so this is really like the best thing for us,鈥� Martinez said.
Between the income that both Martinez鈥檚 parents bring in and her own small business, she says it鈥檚 still not enough to keep up with living in the Keys 鈥� where 10% of residents fall under the federal poverty line and another 33% live paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent United Way report.
In recent months though, Martinez has noticed a decline in the quality of food too.
鈥淲hen we first started coming, it was a lot fresher,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e see things now [that are] like two years past the expiration date. So, it gets a little worrying because it's like, 鈥業 know they're giving it out, but do I really want to have something that's been past due for this long?鈥欌��
From pre-pandemic times to today, Barbara Hann, the pantry manager at St. Justin鈥檚, said she鈥檚 seen demand for food nearly double.
鈥淲e were running at our peaks at 125 people [a day],鈥� Hann said. 鈥淒uring COVID, we were up to around 400 people. But right now we鈥檙e running between 180 and 200 [people a day].鈥�
S.O.S Foundation provides for between 800 and 1,000 households each week, according to Lisa Niederman, the organization's director of programs.
Loss of government contracts and supply chain issues
Pantry operators use several methods to collect food including donations from corporate partners like Publix and Winn-Dixie, community member donations of money or non-perishable items and participation in federal distribution programs.
Feeding South Florida is a food bank servicing Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. They鈥檙e responsible for distributing food to the Keys through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program called 鈥淭he Emergency Food Assistance Program鈥� or TEFAP.
But some TEFAP contracts that fulfill those distributions have fallen through since the pandemic, according to Feeding South Florida鈥檚 CEO Paco V茅lez.
鈥淐ontractors or the folks that are providing some of the goods were able to sell it at a higher rate somewhere else and have been canceling some of the loads, V茅lez said. 鈥淪o we've seen that across not just Monroe but some of our other sister food banks across the country.鈥�
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About 724,000 pounds of food were distributed through TEFAP to pantries across Monroe County in 2023, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. But that鈥檚 a drop in the bucket of what it takes to service the Keys.
In just the S.O.S Foundation鈥檚 Key West operation alone, about 100,000 pounds of food are distributed a month, according to the organization鈥檚 CEO Tom Callahan.
The state has also recently rejected another form of federal food assistance: the 鈥淪un Bucks鈥� program, which is designed to help parents cover grocery bills during the summer months when school provided meals are less available.
Supply chain issues have also slowed operations for Feeding South Florida.
鈥淭here's anywhere from a 16-week to 32-week lead time to get forklifts and pallet jacks,鈥� V茅lez said. 鈥淭here's over a one-year lead time to get additional trucks.鈥�
V茅lez has tasked his team at Feeding South Florida with bringing in about 45% more food in the next fiscal year to accommodate for the increased demand.
鈥淚 do want to make sure that the families know that because the need is up and because our food supply has been declining, I don't want them to not come to us if they need help,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are here for them and we're going to continue to be here for them.鈥�
Disappearing farms
Another South Florida food bank working with partners in the Florida Keys is Farm Share. Farm Share is a nonprofit, independent food bank.
鈥淲e were founded on the idea of capturing underutilized fruits and vegetables from farmers 鈥� maybe they were too big or too small for the grocery store packaging, maybe they had blemishes 鈥� taking that product and ultimately [distributing it] to hungry persons in need free of charge,鈥� said Farm Share CEO Stephen Shelley.
Now, they also distribute non-perishable items, protein and dairy products. However, Shelley said they鈥檝e noticed that a lot of farmers in South Florida specifically have been forced out of the industry.
鈥淎s real estate prices have gone up and the demand for houses has gone up, we're seeing our farmers disappear and [their land is] converting into houses, commercial properties, and even nurseries,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o the volume is down from what it used to be in historic levels.鈥�
The cost of farming is also a barrier.
鈥淚f you don't own that land and you're having to rent that land, it becomes cost prohibitive when you combine that with the fertilizer costs, the labor costs, and so it's driving a lot of our farmers out of business,鈥� Shelley said.
Shelley also pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as the beginning of pain points for Florida growers.
鈥淒uring COVID, a lot of farmers got stuck with tons of farm products in the field, and so as a result, they started growing less.鈥�
Several farm operations, he said, are still not producing pre-pandemic crop yields.
, which is a bacterial disease that can infect and kill citrus trees, has also continued to affect the Florida citrus industry.
鈥淸Citrus growers] very rarely have any excess product. They haven't for as long as I've been involved in the organization and food banking,鈥� Shelley said.
How pantries cope
One way that local pantries are filling the gaps in their food supply is by relying on community members, events and local businesses.
鈥淲e've been trying to do a lot more community food drives, working with rental companies and vacation properties,鈥� said S.O.S Foundation's Niederman.
In May, United Way for Collier and the Keys (UWCK) collected 6,210 pounds of food, which they say is equivalent to about 5,000 meals that were distributed to local pantries.
The 鈥淏e Like Mike鈥� Feed the Keys event was traditionally held in October, to commemorate local restaurateur and public servant 鈥淢angrove Mike鈥� Forster鈥檚 birthday. Forster, who died from pneumonia caused by COVID-19 in 2021, made it his mission to feed the Keys.
But pantry operators told the nonprofit it would benefit them more to hold the event right before school let out to get through the summer months.
鈥淚t's such a crisis,鈥� said Brandi Horton, chair of the UWCK lab executive committee. 鈥淲e want to make sure that everybody is fed.鈥�
Here is a list of food pantries serving the Florida Keys:
St. Justin鈥檚 Food Distribution Center
105500 Overseas Hwy, Key Largo, FL
Open Mondays, 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Donate here:
Stock Island Pantry
5640 Maloney Ave, Stock Island, FL
Open Mondays and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m.
Donate here:
The William Neece Center (Loaves and Fish Food Pantry)
2221 Patterson Ave, Key West, FL 33040
Open Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Donate here:
Burton Memorial United Methodist Church
93001 Overseas Hwy, Tavernier, FL
Open Mondays and Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Thursdays, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Donate here:
First Baptist Church of Islamorada
81201 Overseas Hwy, Islamorada, FL
Open Tuesdays, 10 a.m to 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Donate here:
Keys Area Interdenominational Resources (KAIR)
3010 Overseas Highway, Marathon, FL 33050
Open Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Wednesdays, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment
Donate here:
St. Peter Community Food Pantry
31300 Overseas Highway, Big Pine Key, FL
Open Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Donate here:
Big Coppitt First Baptist Church Drive-Thru Food Pantry
200 Avenue F, Big Coppitt Key, FL
Open Thursdays, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Donate here:
Bahama Village Little Pantry at the Frederick Douglass Gym
111 Olivia Street, Key West, FL
Open Monday - Friday, 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 pm.
Saturdays, 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Donations accepted at the pantry and Key West City Hall
