Rising food costs illustrated by 2,000 vehicles waiting to pick up food in west Houston

BySteve Campion KTRK logo

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

W. Houston food distribution sees twice the traffic than normal

If you need something to give you a better picture of the rising cost of food and other essential goods, you should take a look at the distributions at West Houston Assistance Ministries.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Rising prices from food to fuel is leaving many of our neighbors in need. They're forced to choose between re-occurring bills and higher grocery prices.

At West Houston Assistance Ministries on Wednesday, we witnessed the growing demand first-hand. Hundreds of cars lined up for hours at their chance to get much-needed supplies.

"We haven't seen this level of intensity since the height of the pandemic. I would say it's more than double what we'd normally see. It's really extraordinary," said Mark Brown with WHAM. "Based on my analysis, this is going to continue to be a significant challenge for our community. WHAM really has a role to play for probably at least a year or maybe even a little bit longer...in terms of the extremely elevated need."

Brown said at any given event, there's between 600 and 800 people. He estimated that they served 2,000 people Wednesday.

Here's how much more Houstonians paid over a year with inflation

Numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show a price rise over the last year the country hasn't seen in 40 years. So how is that impacting Houstonians? Learn more in the video above.

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