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Commander's Task Force urges $500,000 per year for veteran food supports in rural Minnesota
Summary
The Commander's Task Force and Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota previewed House File 2773, a proposal to add $500,000 per year to the LSS core program to expand meal delivery, vendor and community dining options for veterans in midsize and rural counties.
The Commander's Task Force on March 26 asked the House Veterans and Military Affairs Division to consider House File 2773, a proposal to add $500,000 per year to Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota's (LSS) Core program to expand food supports for veterans in mid‑size and rural counties.
Dr. Christy Janigo, legislative chair for the American Legion Department of Minnesota and for the Minnesota Association of County Veterans Service Officers, said the proposal aims to reduce geographic disparities in access to nutritious meals for veterans. Janigo said the Core program already offers home‑delivered meals, community dining, meal vendor services and frozen meals shipped to veterans' doors and that LSS has infrastructure to scale statewide.
Janigo cited published and LSS figures during testimony: an estimated 12–14% of U.S. veterans were food insecure in 2023, one in four food‑insecure veterans were under 65, 20–28% of food‑insecure veterans were female, and about 35% of food‑insecure veterans were experiencing serious mental‑health challenges. She said food insecurity among veterans rose about 40% after the COVID‑19 pandemic and that, in Minnesota, LSS data show more than one in five adults living in rural Minnesota with food insecurity are veterans.
Erin Sutton of Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota said the core program uses county veteran service officers for intake and provides case management and outreach in addition to meals. Committee members expressed support and asked for detail on meal composition and delivery; LSS said a program representative could appear at a future hearing with specifics.
The petitioners described the request as a way to both meet immediate nutrition needs and connect veterans to other services such as mental‑health care, caregiver supports and homelessness prevention. The request was presented as a Commander's Task Force priority; the bill was introduced in the House by Representative Clardy and has a senate companion with differing appropriation language.
