On a Wednesday morning, Myrna Bais fills her shopping cart with fresh produce, kidney beans, penne pasta, fresh pastries and, her favorite, pineapple chunks. The Greenwich resident wasn’t strolling the aisles of the local Whole Foods or King Food Markets, but making her weekly visit to the food pantry at Neighbor to Neighbor.

“The food here is very good,” she said. “Most of the veggies are organic.”

The Filipino native first came to Neighbor to Neighbor, the only food pantry in Greenwich, in 2009 per the recommendation of her social worker. At the time, both Bais and her husband, who had just undergone open-heart surgery, were out of work. She became his caretaker as he recovered, and within the next year, found a job at a children’s day care in Glenville. After five years, she lost that job and is now piecing together baby-sitting gigs to support herself as she struggles to find full-time employment again.

Bais is just one of about 1,200 people without access to sufficient food in Greenwich — just under half of whom, 47 percent, are children, with 12 percent senior citizens. Local social service providers like Neighbor to Neighbor, which provides food and clothing to those in need, report that food insecurity continues to grow, with the number of individuals served increasing dramatically in recent years.

Food insecurity is not limited to those in immediate hunger, but includes those confronting ongoing issues of food access and affordability. According to Nancy Coughlin, executive director of Neighbor to Neighbor, the client base has grown between 1 percent and 4 percent every year, with the average being around 2 percent.

She, like other service providers, cites continuing poverty and ALICE — or asset-limited, income-constrained employed — incomes as the biggest driver of food insecurity, as many residents are forced to make choices between food, rent and other necessities. Though most families served by Neighbor to Neighbor cycle in and out, 26 percent of its clients are long-term, or unlikely to rise above their current income levels.