For Phyllis Bean, higher food prices mean going hungry so her 4-month-old baby girl can eat.The Washington resident's $280 monthly food stamp allotment doesn't last very long these days, even though she gets a free lunch at a culinary training program at D.C. Central Kitchen. By mid-month, Bean is often reduced to eating canned ravioli and peanut butter and jelly so she can afford to buy milk and baby cereal for McKiya. By month's end, her refrigerator is empty.
"When I go to the counter, I have to put some of my food back so I can get her food," said Bean, 21. "I try to buy less meats and more starchy food that will last me - noodles, ravioli, rice, peanut butter and jelly."
Soaring food costs are putting a strain on many Americans' budgets. In the first three months of the year alone, they jumped 5.3%, and that's on top of a 4.9% increase in 2007.
Read More
