Minnesotans made 3.6 million visits to food shelves in 2021, hitting pre-pandemic levels.
Minnesotans made 3,632,243 visits to their food shelves in 2021. This mirrors the 3.59 million visits made in pre-pandemic 2019. More than 92,000,000 pounds of food was distributed by Minnesota’s network of food shelves, helping supplement the budgets of over 1.3 million households.
10,000 Minnesotans visit their food shelf every day in Minnesota.
The slight decrease in visits from the record year of 2020 indicates that state and federal pandemic relief measures such as the Child Tax Credit and Emergency SNAP were working to keep food on the tables of Minnesotans during a time of unprecedented food insecurity. Overall visits decreased by 5% from 2020 to 2021 throughout the state, with child visits decreasing statewide by 7.5% and adult visits dropping 5%. Senior visits held steady from 2020 to 2021 despite the overall decrease in visits, decreasing by only 2,024 visits from year to year. Adults aged 60+ continue to be Minnesota’s fasting growing group of food shelf visitors.