‘Perfect storm’ creates barren shelves at local prominent food bank

Published 7:15 am Friday, July 25, 2025

Robin Cadle, President and CEO of the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent, said a perfect storm has been created that has led to barren shelves, teary eyes and many sleepless nights.  Compared to this time last year, the food bank has received 42% less food to feed the hungry and those in need.

“Federal funding has been slashed, demand is rising and food prices are skyrocketing all at once,” Cadle said. “Now we have fewer meals available when people need them the most.”

For Cadle and her team, it’s been difficult to witness the empty space where pallets of food used to be. Unfortunately, it’s not a problem that’s unique to Victoria.

“It’s all across the board. This happening in every big food bank, every small food pantry,” Cadle said. “Every CEO within the national network for Feeding America has the same story. There’s less food, more distributions, less access, food inflation and supply chain issues.”

According to Cadle, the USDA recently paused $5 million to the Emergency Food Assistant Program (EFAP) and pulled $500 million to a billion from programs that would help food banks and schools purchase local foods. EFAP provides for the emergency food assistance program in Texas, the state level organization of USDA.

“Every year, we have an allotment of how much our food bank is allowed to purchase. No money exchanges hands. It’s like getting $250,000, and we pick out we need from a catalog a year in advance,” Cadle said. “Some of our funding was cut in the fall and then more was cancelled in January.”

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Some months, the food banks have two large 18-wheeler trucks hauling in food, and some months it’s three trucks. Now, there aren’t any trucks coming in.

“It’s a combination of things that led to this, but with these cuts on the federal side, there is less coming down the pipeline,” Cadle said. “These foods (EFAP’s regular allotment and BONUS products) account for 20 to 50% of our food distribution.”

The food bank also receives donated food, monetary donations to purchase food and rescue food, which could be unsold food from grocery stores.

“We have less than a $200,000 budget a year in our food purchase budget. A truckload of peanut butter, which is the number one item in food banks, is $48,000, so how far do you think that’s going?” Cadle said.

The SNAP benefit cuts that have recently been introduced won’t take effect until 2026, but SNAP benefits have tightened from those that were being offered during the pandemic.

“There has been a rise in demand with more people in line wanting food,” Cadle said. “Food prices are high right now.”

Coupled with federal cuts dating back to September, there has been more than a 15% increase in food bank utilization by the community. In Victoria alone, 750 people are signed up for the food bank’s mobile distribution system.

Of those 750 people, 300 to 500 will show up for food pickup. But that’s just considering Victoria County. The Food Bank of the Golden Crescent also serves Calhoun, Colorado, DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca, Matagorda, Refugio and Wharton counties.

“Between the heat waves, flooding and droughts, access to these foods has been a critical sticking point,” Cadle said.  “Extreme weather and other supply disruptions are squeezing every food bank in the nation. It’s not just us, it’s every one of us.”

Beyond senior food box distributions and mobile distributions, the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent partners with over 100 local organization to increase residents’ access to food. With less food at the food bank, there is less access for food pantries as well.

“People don’t think about their neighbors, their family members being hungry. But sometimes it is our neighbors and our family members that are hungry. Raising awareness is a critical component and making sure hunger isn’t an out-of-sight, out-of-mind issue,” Cadle said.

Last year, the local food bank distributed over eight million pounds of food. Each month the food bank touches the lives of over 40,000 people across 11 counties. In addition to the 6.8 million meals distributed last year, the food bank also supplied 1,250 students with weekend meals. In the Crossroads area, more than 55,000 people are facing food insecurity.

“While yes, we are experiencing a crisis of supply and we are receiving dramatically less food when hunger rates remain stubbornly high and our community programs are strained, we remain committed to helping as much as we can and are working towards a resolution,” Cadle said.

Cadle is confident that more food will come to the organization soon, but it probably won’t be soon enough.

“We’ve been through this before, but by the grace of God, we’ve gotten out of it,” Cadle said.

While this recent shortage won’t cause the non-profit to close its doors or cut programs or staff, it will cause them to make some hard decisions. Already there’s been a noticeable difference for individuals and families receiving distribution boxes. Typically, the food banks hand out bread products, chips, sodas and meat products in the distribution boxes.

Now, there’s less  variety and less items to give out.

“Our mission is to heal the hurt of hunger and we will continue doing that. It just may not be on the scale that we’ve done in the past for a while,” Cadle said. “But this too shall pass.”

Cadle and her team have been working non-stop to raise awareness about their current circumstance. Already, several donors have donated monetarily and have brought food items.

“Every $5 to $10 adds up, and it fills the gap,” Cadle said.

Community members can donate online by making a cash contribution or by virtually shopping for the non-profit’s most requested items. Residents can also participate in the food bank’s Hunger Hero Challenger this September, volunteer at the food bank or participate in their Meal that Matters program.

This Friday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., residents can support the food bank by grabbing dinner at Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers and mention the fundraiser at checkout. During those four hours, 15% of the events sales will go back to the food bank.

For more information on ways to support the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent, please visit www.tfbgc.org.

Madison O’Hara is a news reporter for the Victoria Advocate. She can be reached at madison.ohara@vicad.com.