Record 172 million pounds of food distributed to food shelves amid high inflation, diesel prices

Demand for food is at an all-time high as Minnesota’s hunger relief network struggles to keep up with the pace amid higher grocery and fuel prices.

Second Harvest Heartland reports that at the end of fiscal year 2026, the regional food bank distributed more than 172 million pounds of food to food shelves statewide in the last year — a record amount. According to Toni Scott, chief supply chain officer at Second Harvest, that’s a 500 percent increase over the last two decades and a 20 percent increase in the last four years.

“What we haven’t seen is a slowdown,” Scott said. “The number of visits is accelerating, and food shelves are opening more hours. They’re doing things to increase access, and we just feel like we are not keeping up.”

Factors driving these numbers include government shutdowns, Operation Metro Surge, inflation and rising fuel costs. Scott said diesel prices have risen 70 percent since March, which added $20,000 in monthly expenses to Second Harvest’s budget. As of Friday, the average diesel fuel price in Minnesota hovered around $6.18, according to AAA.

Minnesota residents made more than 9 million visits to food shelves last year, according to The Food Group, a Twin Cities-based nonprofit that works statewide with food shelves to alleviate hunger and meet residents’ nutritional needs.

Those numbers are increasing due to federal cuts to safety-net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid, Scott said.

“So as we see more financial pressures coming,” she said, “and more families affected by SNAP cuts and other policy changes, we know that we will continue to see those increases and are just doing all we can to try and keep up.”

Food shelves are doing what they can to manage the increased strain on their services. Scott said Second Harvest has looked at other parts of its budget to trim in order to meet the demand, including where to source specific produce as freight has gotten more expensive because of diesel prices.

That meant the food bank had to scale back on the types of food it gets, like citrus from California. Off-season produce might get more difficult to get because of the high gas prices on incoming freight. Scott said other food shelves are struggling with this increased cost burden.

“We have been doing everything we can to optimize our network and find efficiencies, but that increase is so significant that it’s not something we can offset with efficiency,” she said. “So, [we’re] pulling other levers to make sure that we can continue to serve our neighbors.”

Second Harvest, Scott said, continues to advocate for more state and federal money. Last legislative session, The Food Group and Partners to End Hunger Coalition secured $5 million in one-time funding for food shelves — on top of $4.6 million that was already allocated — and $5 million in one-time funding for food banks.

“This is not a place where we will pass on costs to our partners or neighbors, and so as we can continue to experience these increases that extend beyond what we had in our budget initially, we absolutely have to find other places to support that,” she said. “We are committed to maintaining service in the community and the amount of food we are getting out.”