Fear is growing that Vermont is in for its worst winter in recent memory, as rising food and fuel prices will force an increasing number of households to choose between cold or hunger, and possibly end up with both.

The sharply higher fuel costs mean that more families will be forced to seek help in paying their fuel bills, and that each family will need more help. Tim Searls of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity says many people who fail to qualify for state and federal aid will struggle to pay for heat.

The more people are forced to spend on heat, the less money they will have for other necessities including food. The worst-case scenarios play out as a life-threatening crisis for a growing number of Vermonters, especially the most vulnerable populations, including the elderly and young children.

The efforts of our representatives in Washington -- Sens. Leahy and Sanders, and Rep. Welch -- to increase federal fuel assistance is welcome and critical. But with fuel oil prices nearly double what they were a year ago, there is little hope that the assistance budget can keep up with the need. That means looking at every option for making the available resources go as far as possible.

About 60 percent of Vermont households depend on fuel oil for their heat, while another 14 percent use propane. That means nearly three-fourths of Vermont homes rely on heat using nonregulated sources of energy. Here's why that's significant.

Regulated utilities, such as natural gas and electric companies, have some restrictions about shutting people off if doing so might pose a threat to health or safety. Fuel oil dealers are under no obligation to deliver fuel to those who cannot pay.

Some fuel dealers say they no longer can afford to offer credit and must ask for payment on the spot for deliveries. That means people who run out of fuel during the winter and who lack the cash on hand or have maxed out their credit cards might have to do without heating fuel.

Some interesting ideas are before the state's policymakers, including coordinating bulk purchase of fuel on a regional basis and passing along the saving to consumers and creating an "energy bank" that would operate in a similar way to food banks to help those in need. Republican House members have offered a plan to allow money set aside for weatherization -- programs for making homes more energy-efficient -- to be used for the purchase of wood and pellet stoves, which can heat homes at a much lower cost than fuel oil.

These ideas hold promise, but their true potential is for the long term. That means the immediate focus must be on what we need to do to keep homes warm this winter. And that means helping Vermonters pay their heating bills.

The sweltering weather this week can lull us into complacency, but winter will arrive soon enough. Vermont must be prepared with a coordinated effort among the various government and nonprofit agencies to get help to those who need it most. The work must begin immediately to sharply focus efforts on the short term.