Hazel Arnold knows a thing or two about feeding a family. She raised 11 children, four of her own and seven nieces and nephews she adopted after her sister died.

And the 63-year-old is now raising two granddaughters, ages 10 and 16.

But feeding young mouths is an increasingly hard thing to do with grocery prices rising and inflation pushing up the cost of nearly everything in a city that’s already famous for being expensive.

Arnold, like many low-income British Columbians, more frequently turns to charities to help fill her cupboards. For the past couple of years, she has been picking up food hampers from Union Gospel Mission in the Downtown Eastside.

“In the hampers, we get pasta, rice, canned vegetable, canned fruit, spaghetti sauce, mixed vegetables, soups, peanut butter, tuna, bake

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