Food insecurity continues to rise across the northern Shenandoah Valley, fueled by inflation, job instability and economic uncertainty.

Les Sinclair, the communication and public relations manager with Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, said the food bank is averaging more than 174,000 guest visits each month, with holidays, bad weather and shorter months contributing to lower demand during December through February.

“The good news is that inflation is slowing down,” Sinclair said in an email. “The bad news is that it’s still going up, just not as rapidly.”

Sinclair also said that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicated that the index for food at home rose 2 percent over the last 12 months.

“It’s only 2 percent, which doesn’t seem like much to many,” he expressed. “But that’s 2 percent

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