Food Assistance

Demand for free lasagnas shot up during the government shutdown. One Utahn turned her birthday into a lasagna-making party to put a dent in the backlog.

A pending deal to end the government shutdown is too late for about 30 buffalo on the Fort Peck reservation in northern Montana.

Demand is up from new and existing clients. Utah Food Bank says the new state funds will help, but they’ll support only a small portion of their distribution.

The Grocery Rescue program saves about 20 million pounds of food each year from Utah grocery stores. For driver Jaymes Pryor, that means Utahns get more than a meal.

Aproximadamente la mitad de los adultos en Estados Unidos dijeron en una encuesta que el costo de los alimentos es una fuente importante de estrés en sus vidas. En Utah, una despensa en North Salt Lake ha visto que la demanda casi se ha duplicado en el último año, y otras en el estado están buscando maneras de reducir gastos.

About half of all U.S. adults told a poll that grocery costs are a major stressor in their lives. In Utah, a North Salt Lake pantry has seen demand nearly double in the last year, and others in the state are looking for ways to shave costs.

Real people, not waste or fraud, would be cut from health insurance in Utah, said former Republican state Rep. Marsha Judkins.

An increase in food insecurity among college students could help explain why campus food pantries are getting more use compared to last year.

High housing costs are cutting into Utahns’ budgets for necessities like food. The Utah Food Bank has seen higher demand than in recent years as households in the state struggle with food insecurity.

The pandemic changed how we shop for food. At Salt Lake City’s Downtown Farmers Market, shoppers have been spending more through assistance programs to purchase produce.

According to a recent U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps survey, formal volunteer participation dropped 7% between 2019 and 2021. That's the largest decrease the survey has recorded since a version of it started in 2002.

Figures from Feeding America say 288,970 Utahns face hunger with 104,840 of those being children.