VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics says the cost of groceries in San Diego County went down by .9% between February and March, but prices are still near record highs. That puts pressure on San Diegans like Agripina, who got laid off from her job just months after having her six-month-old daughter.
"I went on maternity, came back two days then I was laid off," said Agripina. "It was a lot of sleepless nights, wondering how I'm gonna do it. Just with feeding her and providing for her."
So she turns to the San Diego Food Bank to make ends meet.
"It's amazing," said Agripina. "To know that I'm going to have some type of food source for her is great."
She's not alone. The San Diego Food Bank says demand has stayed high since grocery prices surged during the pandemic.
"I can tell you here at the San Diego Food Bank, before COVID, we were spending about a million dollars a year on purchasing food," said Vanessa Ruiz, Vice President of Operations at the San Diego Food Bank. "We're now buying eight to ten million dollars worth of food a year."
This comes as pandemic allotments for the CalFresh program ended last month, slamming the thousands of people who already struggle to buy enough food.
"We're gonna start planning for more and more families to potentially come to food pantries around the county, because they don't have that extra money that they had in their CalFresh benefits anymore," said Ruiz. "But if it means more people are gonna be relying on the San Diego Food Bank to support them, we're gonna figure it out."
The San Diego Food Bank says they can provide two meals to people in need for just a dollar. If you want to learn more or donate, you can visit their website.
