Food Podcast: Heat or eat? The impossible choice families are making in the Three Rivers region
In this episode of the Food Podcast presented by Clearview Federal Credit Union on the TribLIVE Podcast Network, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank addresses the impact cold weather is having on food insecurity. While the Food Bank hasn’t seen a large uptick in people needing food assistance, the Food Bank’s call center has seen a larger percentage of people citing high heating bills as the cause of financial woes and food insecurity.
Keelan McDonald, the Food Bank’s Temporary Community Connections Partnership Supervisor, says heating bills can place families into crisis, especially those living on a fixed income.
“As all of us who pay heating bills know, you don’t really know what it’s going to be. It can change month to month — pretty dramatically. This year it’s expected to be a 30% increase in the cost of natural gas,” McDonald said.
McDonald said for a household, that can be anywhere from $170-$746 additional dollars they need to come up with.
“If you don’t have that flexibility with your budget, you’re not only going to need some assistance with your heating, but you’ll probably also need assistance for food,” McDonald said.
The Food Bank’s call center not only connects people to food assistance near them, it also works with partners like LIHEAP to provide heating assistance.
To get connected to heating assistance or food resources, visit pittsburghfoodbank.org or call 412-460-3663 x655.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.