As Food Prices Rise, Soup Kitchen Looks Local

DC Central Kitchen, a group that feeds the hungry and runs a culinary job-training program, is turning to local farmers as prices at national wholesalers rise, reports The Washington Post.

The nonprofit organization receives 50 to 60 percent of its food as donations but purchases the rest. In 2007 it bought $900,000 worth of food from national wholesalers.

Now, however, the soaring cost of gasoline has meant that trucking produce across the country — or having it shipped internationally — is often more expensive than purchasing from local farmers. This season, the group is buying “seconds,” which are products that have slight blemishes and are thus rejected from high-end retailers, from farmers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia as a way to keep costs low while stimulating the local economy.

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