What can you do?

Short of clipping coupons, pinching pennies and other creative methods, here are a few things you can do to help stretch your dollars for food or get the extra help you need:

• Join a community food co-op. Crossroads Urban Center's Community Food Co-Op of Utah, for instance, buys food collectively at wholesale prices, providing an array of healthy food for half the price, according to director George Neckel. Anyone can participate.

If you eat, you qualify, he said.

Participants receive food boxes once a month. The standard $21 April order included two Cornish game hens, a pound of lean ground beef, ham steaks, beef back ribs, three varieties of fresh fruits (last month it was plums, nectarines and tangelos), five fresh vegetables, plus bakery bread and a pound of rice. Packages vary, including half-order and vegetarian options, and offer add-ons, including beef tamales and fair-trade coffee and tea.

Participants are asked to perform two hours of community service each month.

The Crossroads program has 5,000 members and 47 team sites from Delta to Ogden and Park City. Neckel welcomes more.

The economy is not looking very promising right now, he said, and I think more people will turn to co-op efforts like this to meet their own needs.

• For 101 ways to stretch your food dollars, visit deseretnews.com and click on Food & Dining.

• For emergency food help, call 2-1-1 to find a food pantry closest to you. The Utah Food Bank service also can help you find rental assistance, public health clinics, child-care resources, legal aid, support groups and other assistance.

• To apply for services such as food stamps, call Utahns Against Hunger at 800-453-3663. The group can direct you to the right place and walk you through the process and other options that might be available to you.