Minnesotans Made 7.5 Million Visits to Food Shelves in 2023
Minnesotans made 7,551,147 visits to food shelves in 2023, a record high for the third consecutive year. This is over 2 million more visits than in 2022.
As food shelf visits increase across the state, data shows the highest rates of increase are in rural counties. Many pandemic-related programs came to an end in 2023, deeply affecting already vulnerable populations. Emergency SNAP benefits had been particularly helpful throughout the pandemic, but the increased support came to an end in March 2023, and by April 2023, Minnesotans saw a monthly decrease of about $100 per person.
On a positive note, Minnesota food shelves applied learnings from the pandemic to become more efficient and accessible to the populations they serve. Of 342 food shelves who applied for grants through Hunger Solutions, more than 100 offer weekly visits to patrons – 56 of those allow unlimited visits.