On eve of Thanksgiving holiday Food banks running out of supplies in Detroit

In just three months—July through September—Gleaners reports they distributed 705,000 more pounds of food than the same period in 2006, a 13.4 percent increase. They note that the current inventory of just over one and a half million pounds equals only three weeks of food for those in need. Demand for food assistance saw a 22 percent increase in October 2007 compared to the same month in 2006 in Southeast Michigan.

The big deficit is due to a nearly one million-pound drop in food donations from national firms such as grocery chains and food manufacturers in the first nine months of 2007.

The agency’s budget is also strained by unusually high price increases for food they must purchase on the market. Money from the State of Michigan to purchase surplus food from farmers has been cut almost in half. From $1 million four years ago the grant was reduced to $630,000 this year. The state grant is expected to drop by $150,000 more next year. The state itself is broke, with the Democratic governor and politically-split state legislature unable to resolve an outstanding budget deficit of several hundred million dollars. Gleaners has not yet received any money for the fiscal year starting October 1.