Inflation, spending cuts undermine Biden's hunger policy

Grace Melt made her first visit to the Nourishing Hope food pantry on Chicago’s North Side in August.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, she used food stamps issued by the federal government to buy groceries while out of work for a knee injury.

But this summer, the food stamps couldn’t keep up with the grocery store’s rising prices, sending her in search of a food donation for the first time.

“It’s definitely not enough. It never lasts ’til the end of the month,” she said of the food stamp benefits. “And now they’ve increased prices… So now you have to resort to coming here to a food pantry, to fill in.”

Rising hunger is a problem for U.S. President Joe Biden as he gears up to host the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in more than 50 years and pledges to eliminate hunger in the United States by 2030. Voters may punish his Democratic Party for inflation in November’s mid-term elections in a year the economy has been top of mind for voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

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