Shelves at the warehouse of Food Bank Net Nishisaitama, a nonprofit group delivering food to households in financial distress in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, have become noticeably empty in recent months.
The group is just one of a rising number of food banks — organizations that deliver food collected through donations to financially struggling families and free canteens for children from low-income households — that have recently been hit by soaring prices due to the weaker yen and the war in Ukraine.
As the amount of food that is donated continues to fall, making it a struggle to secure a sufficient amount, concern has grown among the owners of food banks about the future of their services.