Vermont Foodbank tracking tariff impacts

BARRE, Vt. (WCAX) - Officials at the Vermont Foodbank are doing everything they can to make sure their network doesn’t take on additional costs from tariffs as they work to ensure Vermonters don’t go hungry.

According to officials, the food bank orders fresh produce from Canada every week and they plan to keep it that way.

Last year, they bought 2.7 million pounds of food from a Canadian farm that also partners with 35 other food banks across the United States.

The food bank also purchases equipment from across the border, and they are working with their partners to come up with some kind of waiver to bring down that additional 25% cost.

The back-and-forth tariff talks have them planning ahead for potential problems.

“If the full 25% tariff were to go into effect on the produce that we purchase, that would be somewhere between $120,000 and $170,000 in additional costs to the food bank just for that. But like I said, we don’t expect that level of impact,” said John Sayles, the CEO of the Vermont Foodbank.

The food bank is also looking to see where they source other products to curb spending.

The Vermont Foodbank wants their food shelves and pantries to know they are doing their best to mitigate the impact.

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