>> David Krauss, thanks very much. Good. Thank you. A second
attempt to recall Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos was
set in motion this week with the delivery of 9000 petition
signatures to the Wisconsin elections Commission. Speaker
Vos has been the focus of derision from Donald Trump and
his supporters. After refusing to decertify Wisconsin's 2020
election results. Starting in October, 265 emergency pantries
in Wisconsin that accept donations from the Federal
Emergency Food Assistance Program can no longer ask
visitors to verify their address in order to access free food.
This new state rule comes as food pantries are seeing an
explosion in need, and such verification can be a barrier to
access. But could it also result in shortages at popular
locations like the Oshkosh Area Community Pantry that saw a 70%
increase in usage last year? We ask its executive director, Ryan
Rasmussen, and thanks very much for being here.
Pleasure to be here. >> So, as we've said, your
pantry has seen a major surge in demand in the last few years.
How related is that surge to the end of extra food share benefits
available during the Covid pandemic?
>> Absolutely. Extremely last year around the March time
frame, right when food share benefits were starting to go
back to pre-pandemic levels and at the exact same time that that
was happening, we were also seeing inflation at the highest
we've seen in a long time. Food prices were skyrocketing,
groceries and gas, everything was just through the roof. So
all of it culminated in a really perfect storm of a lot of
expensive things and folks needing some additional help.
>> So your location also operates more like a regular
grocery store where people can choose the food they need or
want. How much does that influence its popularity? Do you
think? >> I think we're extremely
popular because of that. We are firm believers in in the dignity
and respect of all of our guests. And so we truly believe
that there's power in choice. And so we believe through that
choice, folks retain their dignity. And so rather than
getting a pre-loaded box of food, folks are able to come
shop our aisles just like they would any other grocery store.
Really providing a dignified shopping experience as opposed
to a pre-loaded box of food. And so for us, we're extremely
popular because of that model, because folks are able to shop
like us, shop, shop with us like anybody else.
>> So in fact, you see hundreds of people from outside your
county visiting your pantry. Can can you keep up with that demand
? be interesting, especially as we
talk about the new Tefap regulations that are coming in.
I certainly agree that, you know, creating a barrier free
opportunity for guests is super important, and we value that.
And we believe that also. But I think there's some logistical
concerns that we really need to think through in order to make
this happen. And obviously ensuring that, you know, there's
plenty of food to go around all the pantries that need it is one
of them. And I think one of the things we'll have to look at is
how can we redistribute that food in a food system where food
is available, you can get it, but how can we allocate it? The
right way to the pantries that need it, that are seeing some
major increases? >> So that's what you mean when
you talk about the logistical challenges, potentially like
moving it from out of your county into another.
>> Yeah, exactly. And some of the other pieces that we have to
think about too is with these regulations, you know, without
being able to verify proof of address for pantries that have
service areas like we do at and I assume a lot of other pantries
really a couple of ways that throughout the state, there's
to distribute this product. we're thinking about having to,
the inventory or we're going to We'll either have to separate
have to reduce and eliminate the service areas. And so with that
comes a lot of logistical pieces, especially in our store
to model that we have where, you know, being set up like a
grocery store, having multiple programs in that store could
create some additional confusion for our guests, because how much
of the food in your pantry comes from the Federal Emergency Food
Assistance Program? Yeah, right now it's about anywhere from 15
to 20% of the overall food that we get. And so although that
percentage doesn't seem really high, the actual quantity and
the quality of the food that we're getting is fantastic,
we're taking advantage of a milk program where we're able to get,
direct to farmer to pantry milk, for free, a lot of produce comes
from, from the Tefap program, as well as some of the high protein
rich foods that we look for in canned goods. So although the
overall quantity isn't huge, the quality of it is really good. So
it's something we wouldn't want to sacrifice.
>> Losing how has the clientele of your pantry changed over the
past several years? >> Yeah, we certainly have seen,
and a lot of pantries experience this. The age demographic for
pantry users is generally skews a little older, and we've seen
that age demographic come down quite significantly for us,
especially as we were talking about when food share benefits
were rolled back, you know, we were seeing a lot of middle
income folks who generally were on the bubble before where they
made too much to qualify for services, but but not enough to
make ends meet are the ones that are really now the ones that are
being affected by what's happening. And so all that does
is we're seeing a lot more families. We're seeing a lot
more children, we're seeing a lot more of that younger
demographic of folks that are coming in who are needing the
extra help. extra help.