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What many Americans hoped would be the first normal holiday season in three years has instead been thrown into crisis by inflation, with Christmas on the horizon.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Staffers at Bread for the City, a venerable charity in the nation's capital, thought they were prepared for this year's annual pre-Thanksgiving Holiday Helpers food giveaway. The pandemic had faded, but inflation was high, so they budgeted to give out 12,000 meals, 20% higher than normal pre-pandemic levels.

The government estimates food prices will be up 9.5% to 10.5% this year. And that's squeezing the budgets of many Americans and the food banks that have helped them, especially with the expiration of the massive flow of pandemic relief aid.

While the pandemic has largely faded, people are finding themselves at food banks again. The hunger crisis across the United States has worsened as food prices soar from inflation.

A September report by the Urban Institute estimated that about 1 in 5 adults experienced household food insecurity last summer