Hunger Solutions News

A new sense of desperation in the people we're seeing

hunger — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:45:16 -0500

The latest figures from Hunger Solutions Minnesota show a 24 percent increase in the number of visits to Washington County food shelves the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007. In Dakota County, that increase was 12 percent. Eight food shelves in the two counties gave away 580,000 pounds of food during the first quarter of this year.

Hunger is hitting home for those who've rarely known it

hunger — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:24:27 -0500

Driven by a weaker economy and rising consumer prices, the demand for free food from Twin Cities food shelves is rising to record levels, and the face of that soaring demand is working families.

OP-ED Farm Bill Helps Fight Hunger

hunger — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:15:28 -0500

Farm Bill Helps Fight Hunger

By Colleen Moriarty and Steve Francisco

Food crisis hits middle class here, abroad

hunger — Fri, 09 May 2008 22:28:53 -0500

It’s not just the poor who are suffering from the global food crisis. More middle-class people are having trouble feeding themselves. Sean Cole visits a family in Minnesota.

LISTEN to Marketplace

Woodbury-Oakdale / Woman starting food shelf

hunger — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:04:05 -0500

Last summer, Tammy Jensen-Boehne became a statistic.

Sidelined from her nursing-assistant job for eight weeks because of surgery, the Woodbury woman joined the growing number of Minnesotans who get help from a food shelf.

Food shelf planned for Oakdale

hunger — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:20:27 -0500

The demand is evident in the amount of food given out at the five Washington County shelves that Hunger Solutions tracks: 176,000 pounds more in 2007 than the previous year, for a total of nearly 1.3 million pounds of food distributed.

“Budgets are definitely being strained,” said Hiebert, describing “food inflation” and escalating gas prices.

MN Lawmakers Consider Emergency Food Funding

hunger — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:59:55 -0500

Benson says it’s the responsibility of public officials to meet critical needs, and providing food to those who need it is a critical need.

“I’ve seen numbers as high as a 45 percent increase in the numbers of people who are coming to the food shelves. Some cities are running out of food by midweek, and they have to turn people away with nothing at all. So, we really do have a crisis.”

Hungry for Help

hunger — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:11:54 -0500

Robert Hass, left, packs groceries as fellow volunteer Dorothy King gathers items to fill an order at the Friends in Need Food Shelf in St. Paul Park. (Photo by Tom Olmscheid)
By Patty Ostberg , Session Weekly
April 19, 2008

Meeting food shelf needs

hunger — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:49:44 -0500

Of the 28 bills Rep. John Benson (DFL-Minnetonka) sponsors, he said HF1233 is the most important because it has “the most essential need.”

The bill would appropriate $1.15 million for food shelf programs above the base appropriation for the current biennium. It would become part of the base for the Fiscal Year 2010-11 biennium.

“We are dealing here with basic human rights, the right to nutrition,” he told the House Housing Policy and Finance and Public Health Finance Division March 5.

Food shelf is a growing safety net

hunger — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:42:20 -0600

Friends in Need Food Shelf director Michelle Rageth said health problems and job loss are the two most common reasons people end up needing the help of the food shelf. She said they’re seeing a lot more middle-class families coming due to those issues.

“Right now the biggest change we’re seeing is the people who were doing fine up until now,” she said.

In addition to those facing a catastrophic change, there are seniors, disabled and low-income people who are regulars at the food shelf.