CHERRYFIELD, Maine — Nearly 140,000 Mainers struggle to get enough to eat, according to Feeding America. Rural Washington County's food insecurity rate is 15 percent, meaning about 4,700 people in the county lack access to food.
The Maine Seacoast Mission food pantry in Cherryfield has seen a growing number of monthly visits per family since October 2021. Recently, families are in need due to pandemic-era expanded SNAP benefits ending on March 1.
Seventy-five percent of people who face food insecurity in Washington County are eligible for SNAP benefits, according to Feeding America. However, with the expiration of the expanded benefits, many families have much less to work with when they go to the grocery store.
"We're starting to see a lot more families where they were relying very heavily on that increased financial support lose that large portion of funds, and are back to basic levels of support through the SNAP program," Maine Seacoast Mission's Down East Director Jenny Jones, said.
Jones said families typically come to the food pantry a couple of times a month, but in the past six months or so, many have been coming closer to four times a month.
On average, Jones said the pantry serves about 160 families per month. Since the expanded SNAP benefits ended March 1, the pantry in Cherryfield has added hours to try and help as many families as possible.
Maine Seacoast Mission's food pantry provides 12,500 meals per month to families in the area, according to its website. The organization also has afterschool services, helps with house rehabilitation, and has island outreach among other programs serving Down East communities.
"We're definitely part of a large collaboration through this county that's looking at how do we increase wages, how do we make housing more affordable and more accessible, how do we provide more transportation that's affordable and accessible, because all of those pieces factor into the food insecurity rate like it's not a standalone issue. It's a byproduct of larger systemic issues like poverty," Jones said.