What we’ve heard this spring from food shelf leaders across Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and eastern North Dakota is inspiring and urgent.
Through FFEN’s Strategic Food Sourcing consultations we heard directly from 114 food shelf leaders serving across 154 unique food shelf sites. And, during one of the hardest operating environments the sector has seen, 22% of the food shelves we consulted with this round were new to the process – deciding to focus on data to make decisions rather than gut.
“These numbers represent real food shelf leaders making strategic decisions everyday about what to order, how much to order and how best to serve their community under mounting and changing pressures,” said Katie Bull, FFEN’s Director of Programs.
For the first time since FFEN began tracking, the cost per individual served exceeded $3 per visit.
There are a number of things contributing to that cost:
- Food shelf leaders reported food coming from retail rescue, food that is still safe to eat but can no longer be sold in stores, as variable and dependent on location. Many during this round of consultations said this stream of food was less consistent or declining in their area while the data shows growth opportunity.
- Corporate food donations of shelf-stable food to food banks are decreasing which is impacting variety and quantities at the food bank.
- The amount of free federal food to the hunger relief system through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) has remained the same and not kept pace with record-level demands.
This combination of factors is resulting in food shelves purchasing canned goods, proteins, and staples they used to receive at no or low cost. And, purchasing is happening as grocery prices continue to rise, straining budgets.
While these compounding factors impacted price and food variety, food shelves were dealing with something else entirely during this time period of July to December, 2025. The fall Federal government shutdown caused a lapse in SNAP benefits, driving massive spikes in food shelf visits. And then, in December, Operation Metro Surge caused some shelves to see shopper visits drop by 80% or more almost overnight.
And, rather than pulling back, food shelf leaders leaned in.
They launched home delivery programs, expanded proxy shopping, and partnered with trusted community organizations to reach families afraid to leave their homes.
They stretched every dollar further — and 91% of leaders who set goals during their previous consultation, reported making progress on those despite the challenges.
Most food shelves were able to keep at least half their offerings in fresh produce, protein and dairy – foods that shoppers report they need most.
“With more demand on their budgets, 42% of food shelf leaders still said their top priority was more fresh food – they’re not going to cut corners – that’s a value statement from the sector,” Bull said.
What food shelves achieved:
- Most food shelves were able to keep at least half their offerings in fresh produce, protein, and dairy.
- Ordering staff and volunteers used their Strategic Food Sourcing data to monitor pounds per person, track cost per visit and adjust their purchasing based on the numbers.
- Food shelf leaders got creative in food streams coming into the site, reaching out to farmers, butchers and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) to add to their supply.
- Sites got specific when it came to food drives, asking for targeted donations of a handful of well-chosen items to offset costs in those categories, Ie: a cooking spice and oil drive, a cereal drive.
- Leaders shared their Strategic Food Sourcing data, as well as the achievements and challenges it outlined, with their boards and used it to drive donor communications and strengthen grant writing opportunities.
What’s continuing to challenge food shelves:
- As more people continue to turn to food shelves for help, more free and low-cost food is needed in the system to meet the continued demand.
- Food shelves now routinely purchase canned vegetables, proteins, and shelf-stable items previously obtained through free federal food for the hunger relief system or corporate donations to food banks.
- Shoppers say one of the most important foods at the food shelf is frozen protein but there are fewer low-cost options available to food shelves.
- As food shelves try to maximize retail food rescue, they’re managing food that is at the end of its life. Prioritizing the movement of this food and merchandising it to shoppers is important to reducing waste.
- Several shelves reported going significantly over budget; the cost per individual served is trending upward across the network as costs and demand increase causing expenses to rise more quickly for food shelves working hard to meet community needs.
