Rising grocery prices are hitting families and food shelves alike. Still, food shelf leaders keep stocking what shoppers say they need most: fresh produce, protein, dairy and eggs.
FFEN’s latest Strategic Food Sourcing Analysis, a six-month “health check” for food shelves, covers 231 sites providing more than 2.5 million visits from January to June 2026. The median site sources more than half its food in fresh produce, protein and dairy, exceeding FFEN’s 50% goal.
“To make the most of every dollar, it’s important for food shelves to choose foods that their shoppers want to see most, and food shelves are showing us that they’re committed to this,” said FFEN Director of Programs Katie Bull.
Bull said it’s particularly important to prioritize food that is most important to shoppers especially as costs shift. FFEN is encouraging food shelf leaders to make proactive budgeting, sourcing and program decisions to keep their programs financially sustainable.
“FFEN’s role is to provide the most timely data so food shelves can be thoughtful and make decisions that are best for serving their unique community,” Bull said.
As families face higher grocery costs, food banks and food shelves face budget decisions of their own. Leaders will need to decide what matters most to their community and how to protect it, Bull said. FFEN helps them weigh whether cutting costs or raising more funds is the right path.
Here’s what FFEN’s report found:
The cost to serve community members is increasing for food shelves.
- Cost per individual visit to the food shelf jumped above $3 in the last year even as pounds per visit have slipped since 2024, but held fairly steady 2025-2026.
- Cost per pound of food rose $0.03 from six months ago, which adds up to roughly $1 million more to source the same amount of food for the food shelves in this data set over a six month period.
The quantity of food provided per visit is decreasing slightly but quality isn’t.
- Total pounds distributed per individual visit to the food shelf dipped only slightly, from 20 in 2024 to 18.7 in January to June 2026, even as demand grew.
- Food shelves are working harder to provide nearly the same amount of food.
- Food shelves are prioritizing fresh food at their sites, produce, protein, dairy and eggs, foods considered to be the most important to shoppers.
- The decline in pounds of food distributed can be influenced by visit frequency: when shoppers are able to visit more often, they leave with less food per visit.
Food shelves are relying more on purchased (wholesale, purchased from the food bank, locally purchased) products as free/low-cost food options decline.
- Purchased food now makes up 44% of what food shelves source, the largest share.
- Overall, we know that USDA foods are a shrinking share. Among the 231 food shelf sites in FFEN’s latest analysis, the amount of federally supplied food from TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program), contributed to a smaller overall portion of the food sourcing pie for food shelves, dropping from 3.4 pounds per visit in December 2024 to 1.2 pounds today.
- FFEN’s fall consultations with food shelf leaders will explore whether more purchasing reflects more dollars available to spend or a forced shift.
These results cover a period shaped by Operation Metro Surge, when food shelves shifted distribution while in-person visits declined, and by the early effects of HR 1, including changes to SNAP and healthcare, and cuts to support organizations.
Not only is FFEN sharing these data insights with food shelves, food banks, the sector and the public, we are providing food shelf specific data to food shelf leaders to help inform decisions during this time. In Fiscal Year 2026, 100% of food shelves participating in FFEN’s Strategic Food Sourcing Reports said they took action from this data, including sharing it with others.
