A growing number of Minnesotans — many from middle-class backgrounds — fear going to bed hungry and are turning to emergency food shelves.

MINNPOST

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar announced today that Minnesota will receive $2,980,525 for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP). The EFSP is administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The funding will go to 30 counties across Minnesota to help provide food and shelter to families in need.

Getting by on food stamps

The number of people in Minnesota receiving food stamps who had no other income rose from 23,559 in 2007 to 43,997 in 2009 — an increase of 87 percent. Here’s how Minnesota’s food stamp cases break down:

MINNPOST

Consumers and businesses alike are feeling cautiously optimistic about the coming year.

But unemployment remains very high at 10%. And, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released an alarming report about food insecurity in the United States. Between 2007 and 2008, the number of U.S.

Women participating in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program will soon see their monthly WIC fruit and vegetable vouchers get bigger. State agencies got the green light from USDA – via the Federal Register – to move forward with an increased voucher amount.

Food stamp programs in 30 states and the District of Columbia provided data on the number of recipients who had no other cash income in 2007 and 2009. These numbers reflect not only the economic conditions in various states, but also the extent to which food stamp recipients qualify for other safety net programs, such as welfare or unemployment compensation.

The Rev. Richard Goebel believed that nobody should have to go without food, and that is what spurred him into action as a fierce crusader in the fight against hunger, locally and nationally.

Goebel founded the Greater St. Paul Second Harvest Food Bank in 1982 and served as its executive director until he retired in 2001.

While the recession is expected to drive states’ poverty rates up for 2009, new analysis based on Census data shows that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is keeping large numbers of Americans out of poverty in states across the country.

The Roadmap also includes a list of “Immediate Steps” that translates report recommendations into priority actions to be undertaken right away. One of those is the reauthorization of child nutrition programs, up for renewal in 2010.

Minneapolis reported a 49 percent increase in requests for food assistance the highest of any city surveyed. Full Urban Hunger Report