More people have turned to food pantries to make ends meet in recent months, and St. Louis-area food banks expect that demand to rise as a freeze of SNAP benefits in Missouri looms.
A recent forecast from the St. Louis branch of the Federal Reserve reported a "slightly pessimistic” economic outlook and pointed to increased use of food pantries throughout the region as an indicator of a straining economy.
“Community contacts report rising food pantry usage among both low- and middle-income households, growing reliance on ‘buy now, pay later’ services, and elevated credit card delinquency rates,” said the region’s report in the Federal Reserve’s October Beige Book publication.
The Federal Reserve’s 12 regional districts publish reports eight times a year in the Beige Book, summarizing anecdotal information from their respective regions to forecast an economic outlook.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis covers the Eighth Federal Reserve District, including parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, and the entire state of Arkansas.
The report preceded news that roughly 650,000 Missourians will not receive SNAP benefits in November due to the ongoing government shutdown.
The Missouri Department of Social Services announced Monday that the benefits would not be distributed. The program that provides SNAP is entirely funded by the federal government.
Ericka Kinkead, a spokesperson with the St. Louis Area Food Bank, said in recent months that more people have shown up at pantries and food assistance events. She said the bank, which serves 26 counties in Missouri, is seeing an increasing demand for food assistance.
“We do expect that trend to continue due to some recent economic factors, including (the) government shutdown (and) SNAP benefits not processing in November,” she said.
According to the Missouri Budget Project, SNAP served an average of 655,000 Missourians in over 323,000 households each month in 2024.
Kinkead said the food bank and other food pantries across the state will need help from the public and each other to meet demand in November.
“Meeting this challenge is going to require all of us to work together,” Kinkead said. “Any support that our community can provide is going to help us immensely, and that can be in the form of volunteering, donating food or donating funds.”
Economy softening in several areas
Food bank use wasn’t the only negative indicator noted in the October Beige Book report.
The St. Louis district report pointed to increased prices, eroding consumer purchasing power, agricultural conditions straining and deteriorating further from previous reports, a slowing housing market and more.
According to the Federal Reserve, only three of the 12 districts reported any growth, with four showing a softening market. The St. Louis region shifted its slightly optimistic outlook in March to neutral in April and then slightly pessimistic the next month.
Labor shortages were also noted as a reason for shrinking manufacturing in the St. Louis area, and manufacturers pointed to the Trump administration's labor policies as possible reasons.
“Contacts in manufacturing, construction, and agriculture continue to report labor shortages due to workers not reporting to work because of fears of deportation,” the report read. “For example, a construction firm in Memphis reported that the reduced labor pool was driving up labor costs and resulting in project delays.”
Additionally, the report noted agricultural conditions are strained and have worsened in recent months due to extreme weather, poor crop conditions, high input costs and low commodity prices.
“A farmer in Arkansas estimated that up to one-third of Arkansas farmers may go bankrupt or exit the industry to avoid losing land or homes,” the report read.
Read the full eighth-district report here.
