Food markets and banks across Colorado saw need spike during the pandemic.
It was the same story here in Summit. But then, when the pandemic faded, the need did not. It grew.
“We are committed to making sure that people have fresh produce, fresh meat, fresh dairy,” says Brianne Snow, executive director at the FERC.
This month alone the FIRC free food markets in Dillon and Breckenridge are serving more than 600 families every week, up 13% in one year. So far the market has been able to keep up with continued growing demand.
But it might not last.
“We came into this year with the deficit,” Snow says, noting that next year the cost of running the food market jumps another 25%. “While the community rallied to make sure that we had that funding come through, it’s just really disheartening to know that we’re going to be working uphill again.
The FIRC market depends on 10 grants, including nig ones like the Colorado Health Foundation and Vail Resorts. And while most of these direct grants are not disappearing, the FIRC could lose tens of thousands of dollars in free food when pandemic-era farmer and rancher grants end.
“$60,000 would be the cost if we had to purchase that,” Snow says of several grants, including the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, of LFPA. “And so, with the elimination of that program, we’re certainly going to feel it within our budget.”
For those 600-plus families, times are about to get tougher.
“We may make some pretty significant cuts when it comes to who can visit, or how many times they can visit, or how much food they actually walk away with,” Snow says.
She promises the market twill not cut back on fresh product. But it hurts her to know some families will be forced to.
“I think this is just a basic need,” she says. “People can’t function when they are hungry. They can’t be great parents. They can’t be great employees. They can’t be great students.”