HSM and Hunger Free MN to launch new campaign

Look to your mailbox and listen to the airwaves in mid-November. HSM and Hunger Free MN will roll out an exciting and robust campaign to enroll more Minnesotans at-risk for hunger in the Food Support Program.

While the recession has caused a jump in enrollment in Food Support in Minnesota, there are still thousands of seniors, working poor and unemployed folks that could take advantage of these nutrition benefits.

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Stay tuned for the details how you can get involved in this statewide marketing campaign that will encourage people to enroll. With your assistance, our neighbors most at risk for hunger will feel comfortable about screening themselves for benefits.

Why food shelves need to pay attention to the next Farm Bill

The 2008 farm bill is due to be renewed in 2012.

Due to the need to make drastic cuts in the Federal budget, it is likely that at least the outline of the next Farm Bill will be determined this fall through the work of the Congressional Super Committee (officially the “Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction”).

Because of the size of the Farm Bill, and because 80% of the funding is directed to nutrition programs such as SNAP and TEFAP, we are concerned about cuts to agriculture that are likely to be part of the Super Committee’s deficit reduction proposal process.

As you know, the millions of pounds of TEFAP commodities that arrive monthly in Minnesota are the backbone of the emergency response network. If these USDA products had to be replaced, the food shelves and meals programs would have to radically alter their budgets and fundraising.

What does TEFAP mean to your organization?

According to Byron Laher from CEAP, the commodities foods that they receive each month from the USDA account for 1/3 of their food inventory. If this were to decrease or be eliminated, they would have to raise another $180,000 a year. That means they would have 25,000 less pounds of high quality food to distribute to our struggling families every month.

If you are not already part of the Voice of Hunger Advocacy Network , please enroll now. We will keep you up to date on the Farm Bill and potential threats to the programs that we rely upon to feed hungry Minnesotans.

Have you applied for an HSM grant?

Hunger Solutions MN is excited to send out applications for the Fall State Grants. We are trying to encourage food shelves to apply electronically, and many of you have already done so. Electronic applications allow us to save money on paper (each application is five pages long) and postage, and allow us to easily store the applications online.

• For those foodshelves that have not applied online, an application will be coming in the mail soon. We hope to have the grant awards determined by the end of October.

• We also would like to let you know that our grant monies for emergencies and equipment have been replenished. If you have a refrigerator break down, a leaky roof, or other need at your foodshelf that you can’t manage, we may be able to help.

• To learn more, please contact James Redmond or 651-789-9840.

Recent news:

• The Face of Hunger: Youth homelessness in Minnesota

  Groveland Food For Youth in Minneapolis, Minn. on Thursday, August 25, 2011. The food shelf, located at Plymouth Congregational Church, serves homeless and transitional youth. Started by Matt Tennant, founder of Full Cycle, the food shelf aims to make young people feel comfortable and welcome and employs some homeless young people to work during open hours. Tennant says homeless youth who use the food shelf are in a variety of living situations; some are couch hopping, some sleep in shelters, some may be train hopping. The food shelf tries to stock food that they can put in their backpacks and eat without cooking. (MPR Photo/Caroline Yang)

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• Changes at St. Peter Food Shelf satisfy

  St. Peter Food Shelf volunteer Nancy Helgeson says they used to serve up to eight food shelf visitors on a busy day. Now they’ve been serving up to 16.

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• Garden to Table Program Doubles Harvest in Second Year

  In its second year, the Eagan and Lakeville Resource Center Garden to Table program collected more than 18,000 pounds of fresh produce for local families in need of food support.

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