PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — In 2019, the Oregon Food Bank served 856,000 people. Last year that number skyrocketed to 1.7 million. And while the numbers for 2021 aren’t in yet, officials believe they will serve about 1.2 million people this year.
CEO Susannah Morgan said the Oregon Food Bank is the last stop on the supply chain — and they are definitely seeing fewer donations. Some of that is because many of the donations in normal times are leftover seasonal items or new products that manufacturers decide not to market.
Oregon Food Bank — Food Finder
“We will still get the too big/too small things that are grown, which is great, but at the manufacturer level they’re busting to fill their current demand so they aren’t trying new things,” Morgan told KOIN 6 News. “They aren’t making experiments that would end up with us.”
She said COVID outbreaks at different manufacturers have also slowed things. Some crops are also not being picked because of labor shortages.
But Morgan said they do have a very high supply of food coming from the federal government at this time which is helping offset the supply chain issues.
