Some Minnesota families say their monthly food assistance has fallen from $800 to $200, and local food shelves are seeing more visitors as a result. Open Cupboard's executive director, Jessica Francis, says households that have never sought help before are now turning to pantries for groceries. Food banks are adjusting their operations to keep up with the rising need.
What families are reporting
Francis told KSTP that several visitors have seen their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits cut sharply, and some say their benefits were removed entirely. One family described going from $800 a month to $200. Some visitors have also lost health and other medical coverage because they no longer qualify, she added.
Visits to Today's Harvest rose about 10 percent, according to KSTP, and the locations together receive roughly 1,200 visitors a day. Households are also feeling pressure from heating, electricity, gas and grocery costs, Francis noted.
How food banks are responding
Second Harvest Heartland Food Bank distributed a record 172 million pounds of food in its fiscal year ending in September, according to Lindsey Ochmanek, the organization's vice president of sourcing and demand planning. She credited several operational changes built up over multiple years. New routing software plans deliveries more efficiently, cutting fuel costs and allowing drivers to make more stops. Warehouse staff have also cross-trained to move between roles so orders from food shelf partners can be filled.
What comes next
Today's Harvest is seeking donated funds and volunteers to meet local needs, and people who want to contribute can find information through Open Cupboard. Francis said she is most worried about how demand will look as the holidays give way to January, given how high it already is. The reported figures describe current conditions in the organizations' own service areas, so they show trends in demand rather than a statewide measure of benefit reductions.