WINTERPORT, Maine — Phylis Allen spends her days looking for things. She searches for potatoes at Sam's Club, cheap beets and ginger at Walmart and a local grocery store. She studies the weekly inventory from Good Shepherd, Maine's only food bank, for good deals on butter and cheese.

Every Monday morning, she shops at three different stores, keeping lists of prices in her head and remembering what particular clients want. On a recent trip to Sam's Club, she was searching for affordable eggs.

The diminutive 78-year-old food pantry director found them in a huge cooler. Stretching, she pulled two huge boxes off the top shelf — seven dozen eggs each, $21 a box. "$2.82 a dozen," she said. "That's a good price for eggs."

The eggs were destined for Neighbor's Cupboard, the food pantry in Winte

See Full Page