Hunger Solutions Minnesota

Food shelf capacityto end Hunger Minnesota, we need a strong, responsive emergency food system. Hunger Solutions Minnesota works to build food shelf capacity so food shelves in our state are best able to meet the needs in their local communities.food shelf funding: in 2022, Hunger Solutions Minnesota distributed more than $10 million in grants to over 350 food shelves, tribal nations and meal programs throughout Minnesota to ensure they have access to the funding the need to keep food on their shelves and their doors open to those in their community. These grant opportunities include the Minnesota food shelf program (mfsp) grant, cultural collaboration grant, emergency grants and the arpa grants.

Advocacyserving as the anti-hunger community's leading voice with law makers, we champion ending Hunger through public policy intervention and systemic change.key policy priorities for 2022 included: universal school meals, raising the gross income eligibility level for snap, securing funding for food support and capital improvements, expanding farm to school, building a new food shelf in st. paul, and providing meal delivery support to veterans.

Snap outreachthe supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap) is the largest federal nutrition assistance program, supplementing the food budgets of low-income households so they can purchase food that meets their needs. The program serves as the first line of defense against Hunger. For every meal provided by the network of food banks and food shelves, snap provides nine meals.hunger Solutions Minnesota's snap outreach efforts connect people with food resources through the Minnesota food helpline, market bucks program, and snap rx.

The emergency food assistance program (tefap)hunger Solutions Minnesota partners with the usda, the Minnesota department of human services - office of economic opportunity, food banks, and food shelves to administer Minnesota's tefap program. In 2022, Hunger Solutions Minnesota distributed over 10,985,700 pounds of food to food shelves and on-site meal programs across Minnesota via tefap.

Minnesota food helplineminnesota food helpline is an over-the-phone resources line that provide snap eligibility screenings and enrollment assistance, and referral services to other food resource programs such as food shelves, wic, meals on wheels, farmers markets, and more. In 2022, the Minnesota food helpline received 13,651 calls to the helpline. Of those, 1,362 callers were screened for snap. The remaining calls were given information on other resources or programs such as the ebt service center, the pandemic ebt (p-ebt) program, local food shelf, and more.

Market bucks programthe market bucks program is a $2-for-$1 match on snap customers spending of up to $10 each market visit at 105 participating farmers and mobile markets statewide, allowing customers to stretch their food budget to buy more fresh, local, and affordable food. In 2022, over 6.300 customers completed 36,000 snap transactions and spent $551,332 in snap and $315,277 in market bucks and $290,220 in produce market bucks. This was a record year for the program, creating over $1.7 million in economic activity for the state.

Snap rxsnap rx strengthens the connection between healthcare and Hunger relief organizations. Our partnering clinics use the Hunger vital sign screening tool to screen their patients for food insecurity during routine care. Patients who screen positive for food insecurity are referred to the Minnesota food helpline and connected with food resources in their local community. In 2022, Hunger Solutions Minnesota received 2,051 patient referrals from over 45 clinic partners.