{"id":89486,"date":"2025-12-10T19:40:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T19:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/89486\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T19:40:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T19:40:11","slug":"if-affordability-is-a-hoax-why-are-people-turning-to-food-pantries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/89486\/","title":{"rendered":"If affordability is a hoax, why are people turning to food pantries?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Frank McRae, a retiree who lives in Koreatown, did not hesitate when I asked what he\u2019d say to President Trump about his claim last week that the affordability crisis is a hoax<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say, \u2018Mr. President, please travel with me \u2026 so that you can experience firsthand \u2026 what it means to have to search for affordable food,\u2019\u201d McRae said.<\/p>\n

I met McRae at the Goldrich Multipurpose Center,<\/a> one of multiple locations where Jewish Family Service LA offers food and other assistance to growing legions of people in need. McRae, an 81-year-old military veteran who uses a walker because of severe arthritis, had just enjoyed a complimentary lunch, which is a big help for Goldrich clients on tight budgets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know more people are coming in here now, because I\u2019m seeing people I\u2019ve never seen,\u201d said McRae, who\u2019d just enjoyed a lunch of whitefish with squash and kasha.<\/p>\n

If Trump were to take McRae up on his offer, the president would have to ride three buses to get to the Goldrich center from McRae\u2019s apartment, where the rent just went up to $900 a month from $863, and it doesn\u2019t even have a kitchen. McRae also takes three buses to get to what might be the cheapest cup of coffee in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt McDonald\u2019s on Western, south of Santa Monica, senior coffee is 87 cents,\u201d McRae said. And you get one free refill, he added.<\/p>\n

Well, we know Trump loves McDonald\u2019s. At 79, he\u2019d qualify for the senior discount, and he might learn something about the economy he oversees.<\/p>\n

I can think of two explanations as to why Trump said \u201cjust about everything is down\u201d pricewise, and that affordability is \u201ca Democrat hoax\u201d and \u201cthe greatest con job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Either Trump truly has no idea what things cost, other than, say, the $300-million ballroom<\/a> he\u2019s having built after bulldozing the East Wing of the White House.<\/p>\n

Or, after striking out on a fundamental campaign promise (\u201cFrom the day I take the oath of office, we\u2019ll rapidly drive prices down and make America affordable again\u2026. You just watch\u201d), Trump is once again creating his own reality.<\/p>\n

Whatever the case, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that consumer prices rose 3%<\/a> from September of 2024 to September of this year. <\/p>\n

In 2025, grocery and other prices are up while consumer confidence is down, based on multiple polls<\/a> in which Trump is taking a beating on the economy, and the full impact of tariffs <\/a>isn\u2019t yet known. Trump recently, and grudgingly, acknowledged that affordability might just be an issue, but blamed, of course, the Democrats for rising prices. <\/p>\n

In my own running survey<\/a> of 28 grocery items at my neighborhood Vons, it\u2019s been a bit of a mixed bag<\/a> on prices. Nineteen items are currently the same price as on President Biden\u2019s last day in office. The total tab has decreased from $146.03 to $141.73, but the difference is due almost entirely to a big drop in the price of eggs, which experts attribute primarily to declines in avian flu.<\/p>\n

\" <\/p>\n

Christina Shannon works out on a stationary bike at Jewish Family Service LA. She relies on resources from the group to fill in the gaps that Social Security doesn\u2019t cover.<\/p>\n

(Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Christina Shannon, who drops by the Goldrich center regularly for a free meal and a workout in the fitness center, told me she has reluctantly cut back on one of her favorite foods because the prices have gone hog wild, in a manner of speaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of a pack of bacon,\u201d Shannon said, \u201cI go to the deli and get like four slices.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just groceries that snip away at her Social Security check.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go buy medicine, and it\u2019s a little bit higher,\u201d Shannon said. \u201cAnd I went to the drugstore to get toothpaste and washing powder. It\u2019s all so high.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Christina <\/p>\n

Christina Shannon, shown at Jewish Family Service LA, would like to move but cannot afford it.<\/p>\n

(Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Shannon, who worked as an IRS clerk and did filing and other tasks at Goldrich in a job funded partly by the city\u2019s Department of Aging, uses a cane because of hip and knee problems. She said she\u2019d like to find a new apartment because the partly subsidized unit she\u2019s been living in for 26 years has no elevator and she\u2019s on the second floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t afford to move because everything is so high, but I\u2019m tired of climbing the stairs every day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

People have to figure out first of all how to pay the rent and stay housed, and second of all, everything else<\/p>\n

\u2014 Eli Veitzer, president and CEO of Jewish Family Service LA, <\/p>\n

Eli Veitzer<\/a>, president and chief executive of Jewish Family Service LA, said that housing costs for people on limited or fixed incomes is a major cause of financial hardship.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have to figure out first of all how to pay the rent and stay housed, and second of all, everything else,\u201d Veitzer said. <\/p>\n

When food assistance subsidies<\/a> were on hold because of the federal government shutdown, Veitzer said, his agency saw a surge of newcomers \u2014 including working people and families \u2014 at the organization\u2019s food pantries in Van Nuys, West Hollywood and Pico-Robertson.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last two weeks of October and the first two weeks of November, hundreds of new people a day were coming in,\u201d Veitzer said.<\/p>\n

The way the economy is built, Veitzer said, low-wage workers have been forced to rely on government programs for medical care, housing and food assistance. When those programs are cut, or can\u2019t keep up with demand, \u201cthe difference between making it and being on the street is very thin.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the need grows, Veitzer said, meal providers are being forced to scale back because of government cuts. One example is the Van Nuys-based Valley InterCommunity Council, known as VIC, which provides food, transportation and social services to clients 60 and older.<\/p>\n

\"Karen <\/p>\n

Karen Kochara, a driver for the Valley InterCommunity Council, prepares to deliver meals to seniors who are homebound in 2023.<\/p>\n

(Mel Melcon \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were serving 1,000 meals a day to our home-bound clients,\u201d said Leticia Perez, director of operations. That number is down to 600 after a budget cut at the nonprofit, which is partially funded by the city of L.A. in what Perez called \u201ca trickle-down\u201d of federal and state dollars.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been on those home deliveries <\/a>with VIC volunteers and I\u2019ve also accompanied VIC clients on their bargain-hunting missions<\/a> at local supermarkets. One VIC client told me she was always happy to get her hands on a Subway coupon for a footlong sandwich, which she cut into pieces to make three meals.<\/p>\n

At VIC\u2019s Sherman Oaks center Monday morning, 15 people had already signed up for the day\u2019s food pantry offerings. In the multipurpose room, where a free lunch was being prepared, Larry Fazio called out bingo numbers for early arrivals. I then followed him over to the pantry, where he helped set up boxes of apples, bananas, potatoes and other basics.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get me started on him,\u201d Fazio said when I asked if he knew about Trump\u2019s claim that affordability is a hoax. \u201cI\u2019m being taken off of Medi-Cal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fazio said he\u2019s still got Medicare, but he had used Medi-Cal to supplement his coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always lived on a budget, and now it\u2019s squeaky. We\u2019re being careful. Even with the electricity in the house \u2014 the amount of heat we use,\u201d Fazio said.<\/p>\n

Come visit the pantry, Mr. President. You could also join the volunteers who drive meals to homebound seniors, and maybe if you cut back ever so slightly on the number of chandeliers in the new ballroom, those 400 hungry clients could get back on the food delivery list.<\/p>\n

Or I could hook you up with Frank McRae, whose offer stands.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome travel with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

steve.lopez@latimes.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Frank McRae, a retiree who lives in Koreatown, did not hesitate when I asked what he\u2019d say to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[29736,49788,217,49785,3401,49784,25773,49787,48,52,51,49790,47,50,49,49789,592,3020,1929,49791,49786],"class_list":["post-89486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-affordability","tag-christina-shannon","tag-day","tag-eli-veitzer","tag-food-pantry","tag-frank-mcrae","tag-free-meal","tag-hoax","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-larry-fazio","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-mr-president","tag-people","tag-president-trump","tag-price","tag-tight-budget","tag-vic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}