site.openhandstore.org Blog

Facing the Challenge of Rising Costs

Inflation has been in the news quite a bit, lately, you can read about it here and here. Rising energy costs are partially to blame but you can also draw a link to ethanol; ethanol drives up food costs in a few ways, most notably by creating a tighter market for feed corn and putting pressure on farmers to convert land from food crops to fuel crops. All of this is a way of saying the cost of food is up, way up. In the last 9 months alone, we have seen the cost of dairy products rise by as much as 50%, Bread is up by 10%, proteins are up by as much as 50% and most vendors have resorted to delivery surcharges to cover the rising cost of fuel.

At Open Hand, we remain focussed on delivering the same quality and quantity of food to our clients. To meet the challenge of rising costs we have sought to trim overhead through innovative measures such as solar power and fuel efficient delivery vehicles. The challenge we face is significant, no doubt. Looking ahead, we anticipate food, fuel and packaging costs remaining high and we will continue to rely on our donors and volunteers to ensure that we meet the needs of our clients each and every day.