Overview
- More than 40% of city families cannot afford weekly grocery costs, and one in three adults says they lack enough money for food.
- An estimated 550,000 residents reported running out of food before having money to buy more, according to the Poverty Tracker.
- A West Side Campaign Against Hunger site saw daily households served jump from 300–400 to about 800 this month, surpassing pandemic peaks.
- The report surveyed roughly 3,000 households across incomes, with researchers citing about a 33% rise in area food costs over the past decade.
- Local tracking shows sharp increases in staples—eggs up 90%, meat 16%, bread nearly 11% after inflation—as city leaders and advocates call for policy action heading into the holidays.