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comes to inflation. Data out 
from the# 
federal

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inflation eased through 
October.# 
And according to the Farm 
Bureau,##

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the average cost of a 
Thanksgiving dinner actually# 
decreased slightly this year to 
abou

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But as special correspondent# 
Fred de Sam Lazaro reports,##

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stubbornly high food prices are 
still# 
squeezing some families this 
ho

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: More# 
than an hour before it 
opens,##

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the line starts to grow outside 
Today's#

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Some have used the food pantry 
for year.# 
Others are visiting for the 
first time.

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All are welcome, no questions 
asked,# 
which, in a still challenging 
economy,##

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means demand has gone through 
the roof.

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JESSICA FRANCIS, Executive 
Director,# 
Open Cupboard: Befor

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we were serv

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Jessica 
Francis is# 
executive director of Open 
Cupboard,##

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the nonprofit that runs Today's 
Harvest.

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The organization's food comes 
from grocery store##

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donations and food banks. And 
it relies# 
on volunteers to k

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JESSICA FRANCIS: We have faith 
every day that# 
it's going to work out and that 
we're going to##

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have enough food for everybody 
that's going to# 
come through our door today. 
And, every day,#

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it does. But there are days, 
probably, that# 
-- where we stretch that faith 
a little b

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: 
Thirty-seven-year-old Lisa##

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relies on Today's Harvest fo

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Are these just outside of your# 
budget in a typical grocery 
store?

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LISA, Mother: Oh, yes. They 
charge# 
a ridiculous amount per pound. 
And##

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it's like, well, one pound is 
good for a meal.

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(LAUGHTER)

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spent seven months in a 
homeless# 
shelter with

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sober for three years and has 
focused# 
on her mental health and eating 
bett

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LISA: I envision being 
independent# 
from all of this and being able 
to##

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help people with it instead. 
But, right now,##

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I need the help to be able to 
get to a point# 
that

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Across 
Minnesota, visits# 
to food pantries, also known as 
food shelves,##

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have skyrocketed from about 3.6 
million# 
in 2021 to more than 5.5 
million last##

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year. And that number is 
expected# 
to reach seven million this 
year.

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COLLEEN MORIARTY, Executive 
Director,# 
Hunger Solutions Minnesota: 
It's just not##

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an e

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many families make it through 
the month.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Colleen 
Moriarty leads the

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to inflation driving up the 
cost of food coupled# 
with the rollback of federal 
benefits like SNAP,##

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once known as food stamps, 
which were# 
temporarily increased during 
COVID.

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COLLEEN MORIARTY: Not being 
able# 
to count on the fact that 
you're##

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going to have enough money and 
the# 
cost of food

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it is that you need is -- it's 
just# 
simply unattainable for many 
people.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Despite 
explosive# 
growth in food shelf use 
here,##

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Minnesota is actually 
relatively# 
well off when it comes to

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security. Many other regions of 
the# 
country are seeing far greater 
need

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In East Harlem in Manhattan, 
New York Common# 
Pantry had already been a big 
provider of##

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food assistance before COVID, 
supplying grocery# 
packages every two weeks and a 
daily hot meal for##

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those in need. Like in the Twin 
Cities, the easing# 
of the pandemic has not meant 
reduced demand.

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Stephen Grimaldi is the 
executive# 
director of New York common 
pantry.

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STEPHEN GRIMALDI, Executive 
Director, New York# 
Common Pantry: Before the 
pandemic, we were##

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serving about 6.3 mi

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: About 40 
percent of# 
each package given out is fresh 
fruits##

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and vegetables. The Pantry 
supports# 
nearly 200 locations around the

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but this is its biggest 
location and the# 
line stretches all the way 
around the block.##

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The organization is 
distributing# 
6,000 turkeys this Thanksgiving.

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DOLORES MARTINEZ, New York 
Resident# 
(through translator): The 
turkey##

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and the other goods that I get 
today.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Dolores

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Sh 
e immigrated from the 
Dominican Republic# 
and lives with her son in 
Manhattan. She##

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has big plans to share the food 
she's# 
getting today with her extended 
family.

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DOLORES MARTINEZ (through 
translator): I'm# 
taking the turkey and other 
items we will##

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need from this cart, because 
they

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STEPHEN GRIMALDI: So we're 
seeing# 
increases from almost every 
group,##

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every demographic. There is a 
big spike# 
in d

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we saw a good number of asylum 
seekers. But we're# 
at a pace about a 600 percent 
increase this year.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Since last 
spring,##

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more than

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more than 64,000 were currently 
being housed# 
in city shelters. One of those 
shelters is a##

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former jail around the corner 
from New York# 
Common Pantry housing up to 500 
people.

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The influx of asylum seekers 
comes as New York# 
City was already facing 
disproportionately high##

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levels of food insecurity. An 
estimated 14.6# 
percent of New York City 
residents experienced##

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food insecurity in 2022. 
Nationwide, the# 
figure is almost 13 percent, 
which is up##

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from just over 10 percent in 
2021;# 
74-year-old Clarence Allen 
lives on##

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a fixed income and has been 
coming here to# 
stretch his budget since the 
onset of COVID.

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Like one in five New Yorkers,# 
he also relies on SNAP.

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CLARENCE ALLEN, New York 
Resident: Well,# 
food stamps ain't enough. All 
right. And,##

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after three weeks, I ain't got 
no# 
food. But when I come down

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th 
ey give me enough to make it 
through the month.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Like in# 
Minnesota, Grimaldi says the##

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rollback of pandemic era 
benefits and# 
in

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STEPHEN GRIMALDI: You have got 
folks who now# 
can't afford to buy the fresh 
food that we##

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serve here. And a challenge, of 
course, for# 
emergency feeding programs is

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ha 
ve to pay for them as well. 
So it's the# 
double whammy, where we don't 
have enough,##

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enough resources, but we have 
to buy more# 
food to help folks who are 
really

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: That 
struggle# 
persists nationwide and 
year-round.

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COLLEEN MORIARTY: I really 
admire all the efforts# 
to bring more attention to 
hunger at th

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year, because, certainly, when 
you sit down to a# 
huge meal and you think of 
someone having nothing,##

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that's a problem. And the 
donations go up at# 
that time of year, and then 
they fall off.

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So what I want to say is this.# 
Hunger can strike anyone.

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FRED DE SAM LAZARO: And those 
tackling this# 
problem don't expect it to ease 
anytime soon.

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For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm 
Fred de# 
Sam Lazaro in Oakdale, 
Minnesota.

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GEOFF BENNETT: Fred's reporting 
is a partnership##

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with the Under-Told Stories