Shutdown Potentially Cuts Food Supply To South Floridians

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE (CBSMiami) - Nearly one million people from Palm Beach County down to the Florida Keys could lose their food supply if the federal shutdown continues into November.

The non-profit organization, Feeding South Florida, gets about a third of the food it supplies to hundreds of food banks from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  The organization has all it's going to get from the USDA for this month—but that's it. And the number of people who rely on Feeding South Florida just went up, after the shutdown forced the federal WIC program to turn away low-income moms needing baby formula and diapers.

"So we're looking at having to find other food sources for turkey, chicken, ham," said Sari Vatske at Feeding South Florida. "The protein products that usually cost more money that people are just not able to spend their snack benefits on."

Nearly a thousand people lined up Thursday at a bi-weekly mobile food pantry at Mother of Christ Church in Southwest Miami-Dade.

Volunteers handed out packages worth about one-hundred dollars each to the many low-income mothers, fathers and elderly people who've relied on the pantry for 20 years.

The packages include meats, pastas, cereals, vegetables, juices and all sorts of dry, fresh and frozen goods.

Volunteer Eddie Acosta used to be a pantry customer and said he knows all too well how important the food it provides is to families.

"We're a little bit concerned with what's going on with the government right now, because if it was something to happen, hundreds of people that come here on this help to eat...that's how they put food on their table."

The shutdown would force Feeding South Florida to turn to the private sector for more financial support.  It would also need more food drives and volunteers.