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Committee includes one-time food security funding; food banks and food shelves urge more support
Summary
The DE1 amendment includes one-time funds for food security programs and the prepared meals grant, but food bank and food shelf leaders told the committee on April 6 that demand remains high and additional funding will be needed to avoid shortages in Greater Minnesota.
The Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee's DE1 amendment includes one-time funds for food security programs and the Prepared Meals grant. Witnesses from food banks and the food shelf network told the committee on April 6 that the need is rising and the new appropriation will help but is unlikely to be sufficient.
Peter Wytack, government relations manager for The Food Group, thanked the committee for including one-time funding for the Minnesota Food Shelf Program and told members that food shelves across the state are seeing record demand. "We urge the committee to consider providing additional resources for food shelves and food banks," Wytack said, noting supply disruptions at the federal level and higher prices that have reduced available donated food.
Virginia Witherspoon, executive director of Channel One Regional Food Bank in Rochester, told the committee Channel One served 13 counties and distributed nearly 18.9 million pounds of food in 2024, a 35% increase year over year. She said inventory weight in February fell by 59% compared with the prior year and that the food bank had begun rationing some staples. "If it were not for the 1-time funding from the legislature last year, we would not have enough food right now," she said, and urged further state investment to avoid turning people away this autumn.
The DE1 also preserves funding for the Prepared Meals grant that supports organizations, such as Open Arms of Minnesota, which prepare and ship medically tailored meals to vulnerable Minnesotans. Lisa Lane of Open Arms said the grant enabled delivery of shipped meals to clients across Greater Minnesota and supported meals for M Health Fairview patients. She described the meals program as critical for people who are both food insecure and managing serious illnesses.
Committee members thanked witnesses and noted the difficult budget environment. The food-security advocacy witnesses urged the committee to consider additional or ongoing funding rather than a single one-time allocation, arguing that the rise in food insecurity and the loss of some federal supports have made demand less predictable and more sustained than usual.
