The affect of increasing food prices on Durham food pantries.

Who: The Durham Cornucopia Food Pantry and the St. Thomas Moore Church Food Pantry.

What: With the recent increase in food prices along with the increase of home foreclosures, it would be interesting to see how local food pantries have been affected. Are there more people in need of help? Has it become hard for the food pantries to supply a sufficient amount of food to the people who need it?

When and Where: The Durham Cornucopia Food Pantry is open on Wednesdays from 4-530pm and Fridays from 12-5pm. The St. Thomas Moore Church Food Pantry is open on Thursdays from 4-6pm.

Why/How: This story is timely because food prices increased immensely this past July. Dairy increased 2.3 percent in July, while milk alone increased 4.3 percent. Beef, pork, chicken, eggs, fresh vegetables, fruits and grains also increased substantially. Not only that, but home foreclosures are also very high. With all these increases it will be interesting to see how the local food pantries which are dedicated to helping the Durham Community have been affected.

I believe that this story is not only very timely, but also it is a story with great multimedia potential. I can get still photos and videos of the food pantries working and serving dinners. I can get voice interviews with not only the volunteers of the food pantry, but also from the families that are in need of the food pantries assistance. It will be interesting to potentially talk to people who have recently begun to depend on the food pantry because of the increases in food prices or because of home foreclosures. This could also lead to potential individual stories. I feel like this is a topic that many people will be interested in due to the fact that both food prices and home foreclosures affect the entire community and have been affecting the entire country. It is also something that many people do not associate with small towns like Durham. However, it is important to remember that there are people everywhere in need of help.