By Mary Morrell |Managing Editor

Two jars of peanut butter. That’s all that lined the shelves of the Mercer County Emergency and Community Services food pantry, on North Warren Street, Trenton, during a sad day at the end of October.

Volunteers and administrators at the Catholic Charities food pantry say they’ve never seen anything like it, indicating there is a desperate need for food. Talaya Woodall, food pantry case manager, indicated that between fewer donations, leaving the food pantry with only a quarter of the food they usually stock, and more people coming for help, the pantry has had to cut back on the number of people they can serve – dropping from 40-50 people daily, to 25.

In his World Food Day address, Oct. 16, Pope Francis referred to the reality of hunger and malnutrition in the world as “ a scandal … It is not just a question of responding to immediate emergencies, but of addressing together, in all areas, a problem that challenges our personal and social conscience, to achieve a just and lasting solution.”

The pope stressed the need to “rethink and renew our food systems from a perspective of solidarity” which “implies a serious question on the need to really change our lifestyle, including that of food, which in so many areas of the planet is marked by consumerism, the waste and squandering of food. … However, the waste of food is but one of the fruits of the ‘throw away culture’ which often leads to sacrificing men and women to the idols of profit and consumption; a sad sign of the ‘globalization of indifference,’ which makes us ‘accustomed’ slowly to the suffering of others, as if it were something normal.”

Across the Diocese of Trenton, Catholic Charities’ food pantry is not alone in trying to meet the needs of more people with less resources.

A similar situation exists in Mount Carmel Guild, Trenton, said Dominican Sister Loretta Maggio, director of the emergency assistance program, who explained that the causes for the shortages were varied. They include the recent government shutdown which prevented federal and state food deliveries to the Mercer Street Food Bank. The Food Bank supplies food each year to more than 60 organizations in Mercer County, including Mount Carmel. In addition, there has been a significant increase of the number of people needing assistance. Looking ahead, the Guild is preparing for the increased need now that food stamp assistance has been cut back.

According to the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition, more than 870,000 struggling New Jersey residents, or 10 percent of the population, are among those with a reduction in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) benefits as of Nov. 1, the end of a provision in the federal stimulus package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act/ARRA).

Those numbers include 364,000 children, 15,900 veterans and at least 195,000 people who are elderly or disabled in New Jersey.

In early November, leaders of five national Catholic organizations, including two committee chairmen of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged the Farm Bill Conference Committee to negotiate a Farm Bill that “reflects a commitment to the common good.”

The appeal stated, in part: “Agriculture policies must adequately respond to the needs of the most vulnerable and hungry people, and farmers and families at home and abroad,” with leaders urging Congress to focus on five priorities: domestic hunger and nutrition, international food security and development, rural development, conservation and subsidies.

According to Karen Manassa-Walstein, who has worked in the food pantry in St. Dorothea Parish, Eatontown, for the last five years, the number of “guests” have increased monthly during that time. Where they once served about two dozen families, they now serve close to 130 families.

It seems to be “a combination of the economy and people being more educated to what is out there. They are more willing to seek help,” Manassa-Walstein stated.

She noted that St. Dorothea’s food pantry receives food from the Monmouth Ocean Food Bank, which is experiencing similar problems. “We can’t get fresh milk anymore, we can’t give a dozen fresh eggs to each family.” St. Mary Parish St. Vincent de Paul conference, Barnegat, is also experiencing a dramatic increase in need that began before the cut in food stamps, and is sure to continue, said Marie Dorry, conference president. She reported that in October, the food pantry served 249 families, a significant increase from 196 families in September. “Last week our shelves were nearly bare,” she said, expressing sincere gratitude to the “amazing parish family” whose donations filled that void, making it possible to serve the 17-23 families they are now serving daily, up from 10-11 families in September.

It used to be the beginning of the month was slow, because food stamp benefits were still being used, she said, but now the pantry is overwhelmed with requests for aid even early in the month.

Dorry noted that their intake process on those requesting help is revealing people whose food stamp benefits have been cut to anywhere from $2 -$42 a month.Woodall also stressed that, in addition to people struggling through tough financial times, the cut in food stamps has exacerbated an already increasing problem. She has seen many people who have had their benefits cut in half, enough to cause working families to now seek help with food so they can stillpay their bills.A bright light in the situation, said Woodall, has been Catholic parishes, who consistently come through with donations of food, fulfilling what Pope Francis referred to as the soul of theChurch’s mission – “charity, love.”