WEBVTT

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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

01:24.100 --> 01:25.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
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##

05:26.300 --> 05:31.500 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
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.

05:48.200 --> 05:50.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
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

06:02.966 --> 06:06.400 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
 
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

06:11.400 --> 06:15.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
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.

06:29.600 --> 06:34.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80%
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##

06:45.900 --> 06:59.266 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80%
with the Under-Told Stories