Leading with Abundance: Strategic Decision-Making for Food Shelves in
High-Demand Times
FFEN Program Director Katie Bull and FFEN Food Shelf Consultant Andrea Gressman led a panel discussion with Nathan Hesse of PRISM and Sue Johnson from Two Harbors Area Food Shelf about “Leading with Abundance: Strategic Decision-Making for Food Shelves in High-Demand Times.”
The group discussed that even when resources feel limited, effective leaders approach their work with calm, intention, and clarity rather than reactive, fear-driven decisions. Panelists emphasized that calm doesn’t happen by accident — it has to be designed.
“One of the greatest resources your organization has is you,” Gressman said.
Hesse went on to talk about practical examples including how to make shelves look visually full even with limited product, strategic ordering to maximize what’s available, and starting each distribution day by calculating how to serve the maximum number of families fairly.
“It’s about bringing staff and volunteers along and having transparency in what we have, what we don’t and what the plan is,” Hesse said.
Johnson stressed the importance of dignity for shoppers and how food shelf leaders can honor the personal and professional experiences they bring to their unique roles.
“Just know you are there and that makes a difference,” she said.
Check out these helpful tools:
Prioritization tool – Prioritize foods based on cost and demand
De-escalation strategies – Tips for creating calm in your food shelf
Breathing and mindfulness activities – Tips for self care
Reframing Matrix – Questions to rewire our assumptions
2025 Minnesota Food Shelf Survey: What’s Our Story?
FFEN partnered with Susie West and Karah Mechlowitz from University of Minnesota Extension for “2025 Minnesota Food Shelf Survey: What’s Our Story?” to talk more about storytelling around the results.
Food shelf leaders, they said, expressed a strong desire for greater representation in the broader narrative about what’s happening on the ground, and how the survey can be used as a tool to amplify that voice with donors, volunteers, and policymakers.
They noted that data alone doesn’t tell the story – it needs voice and context from food shelf leaders to drive meaningful change.
The team discussed how the 2025 Minnesota Food Shelf Shopper and Manager Surveys highlighted key challenges around food cost, availability, and sourcing, particularly for fresh foods.
Despite these challenges, managers reported providing high-quality client experiences, and this year’s data showed that feeling welcomed by staff and volunteers ranked as the top priority for clients, above even the ability to choose their own food.
Other notable findings:
- 57% of clients receive half or more of their food from a food shelf
- 83% visit monthly or more
- More than half have chronic health conditions that shape their dietary needs
Participants broke off into small groups and these topics bubbled to the top:
- Hunger is rising and evolving in our communities — affecting working families, immigrants, and long-time neighbors alike.
- Food shelves are trusted, welcoming community hubs meeting increasingly complex needs with dignity and expertise.
- The system is under strain. Flexible funding, culturally appropriate foods, and community-centered leadership are essential.
- The public narrative must shift — from charity to partnership, from food drives to sustainable investment, and from myths to lived reality.
Check out these helpful tools:
2025 Minnesota Food Shelf Survey – Checkout the Shopper and Manager Survey results
Discussion session facilitation guide and worksheet – Tips and tools for leading your own discussion
Shopper survey media kit and graphics – Easy to use graphics and language to share results
Sourcing for Food Shelves and Food Banks
FFEN Executive Director Kate Burggraff spoke with Lindsey Ochmanek, Second Harvest Heartland and Dan Narr, ICA Food Shelf in a panel moderated by Andrea Johnson of SHH, about “Sourcing for Food Shelves and Food Banks.”
This panel discussion began with a look at the current, and ever-changing food sourcing context. The team of panelists said sourcing challenges have intensified — declining post-pandemic donations, supply disruptions, rising demand (particularly for produce), and emerging pressures from tariffs on packaging and food manufacturing inputs are all straining the system. Government food sources have declined significantly, and organizations are actively working to replace those pounds.
To combat that strain, Burggraff, Ochmanek and Narr focused on providing practical guidance centered on communication, flexibility, and strategic planning.
They discussed:
- How food shelves should stay closely connected with their regional food bank, monitor trends in the food stream, and check frequently for frozen and perishable items when ordering.
- Thoughtfulness into the physical layout of the food shelf as it plays a key role in sourcing decisions — moving from specific item choices (e.g., corn) to broader category choices (e.g., any vegetable) gives food shelves more sourcing flexibility, the ability to source lower cost items and reduces volunteer anxiety over missing product.
- The importance of multiple food streams coming into a food shelf.
- The benefits of food shelf leader connections when a large amount of product comes into one site that could be shared with other local food shelves to make sure the food gets out to community.
- Communication with food banks regarding the need for specific types of food including cultural and dietary preferences like halal meat.
- A focus on strategic food sourcing, something FFEN offers through its free Strategic Food Sourcing Report and Consultation to food shelves. This report, available to food shelves every six months, gives food shelves a detailed look at their product mix and spending by category, helping budget more efficiently and sustainably.
Check out these helpful tools:
Food category overview tool – Learn about establishing categories
Example food sourcing report – Check out an example Strategic Food Sourcing Report
Strategic food sourcing metrics – Learn exactly what the Strategic Food Sourcing Report provides
