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Climbing costs leave Jacksonville families struggling for food

Volunteers stock bags for families at Mandarin Food Bank.
Claire Heddles
/
WJCT News
Volunteers stock bags for families at Mandarin Food Bank.

Jacksonville mom Krista Jones is buying beans instead of meat for protein. It’s one of the creative steps she’s had to take to deal with rising food costs and the end of pandemic aid programs.

“It has literally meant for me as a single mom on a single income to reevaluate how we eat, what we eat,” Jones said.

Across Northeast Florida, thousands of working parents like Jones are struggling to buy groceries, left behind in a rebounding economy.

Read the rest of this story on Jacksonville Today.

Claire joined WJCT as a reporter in August 2021. She was previously the local host of NPR's Morning Edition at WUOT in Knoxville, Tennessee. During her time in East Tennessee, her coverage of the COVID pandemic earned a Public Media Journalists’ Association award for investigative reporting. You can reach Claire at (904) 250-0926 or on Twitter @ClaireHeddles.