Read all the hunger stories in the Julie Siple archive.

The number of Minnesotans who sought help to feed themselves and their families hit record levels in 2011. Never before have so many people visited food shelves or relied on food stamps. But there are signs the big spikes of recent years could be slowing.

Here’s the bad news: As of November, there are now 511,343 Minnesotans on food stamps — more people than live in Minneapolis and Duluth. Food shelves have seen a 9.8 percent jump in visits from August 2010 to August 2011. New people just keep showing up.

That is especially true in the Twin Cities suburbs.

MPR