Problem: hunger; Recipe: big box retailers

Three times a week, Jason Van Den Boom backs his refrigerated truck to the loading dock at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Shakopee, and wheels on pallet after pallet of food that once was given away as animal feed, or tossed in the garbage bin. Now, the nearly expired food helps feed an exploding number of hungry people in the Twin Cities.

"Let's get 'er done," said Van Den Boom, of Second Harvest Heartland, clapping his hands together as he greeted Wal-Mart's Tricia Goodman earlier this week. Goodman spends her shift making sure the store's items look top-notch, and those that aren't -- yellowing broccoli, splotchy apples, perishables such as meat, milk and bread that are approaching their expiration dates -- Goodman sets aside for Van Den Boom to pick up.

"The food's still edible and healthy," said Goodman, who has worked at Wal-Mart for 20 years. "I feel good in my heart knowing it's going to the right people."

Goodman and Wal-Mart are among the latest recruits in the war against hunger in Minnesota, joining Target and other big box retailers in helping food shelves serve record numbers of families in search of groceries.

As the Great Recession continues, about 1 in 10 people in the Twin Cities are going hungry, according to Greater Twin Cities United Way. And at places such as the ICA food shelf in Minnetonka, which serves the affluent west metro suburbs, a third of the customers have never been to a food shelf before.

"You wouldn't believe the need," said Cathy Maes, executive director of ICA, which is a part of the Second Harvest network. "Food goes out as fast as it comes in. We can hardly keep up."

Without their new allies, the food shelves would be sinking even further beneath the waves of hungry families. In October, Target contributed about 24 percent of the perishable food Second Harvest collected, and Wal-Mart added about 17 percent. Grocers such as Supervalu and Cub supply most of the balance. In the past year, Second Harvest, which serves more than 980 emergency food organizations in 59 Minnesota and Wisconsin counties, has gathered up 4.9 million pounds of food, a 45 percent increase over the previous year.

With Target, which recently added fresh food to the non-perishable items it began donating in 2001, and Wal-Mart in the mix, Second Harvest might be able to bring in 9 million pounds of perishables next year -- an 80 percent boost -- said Rob Zeaske, Second Harvest's executive director.

Second Harvest has been able to pump up the volume in large part because it has sunk more than $2.7 million into improving its warehouse facilities, timed to be able to accept increased donations from Target and Wal-Mart. It has boosted its fleet from two trucks to six, and punched in half a dozen new doors so that it can turn trucks around faster.

The organization measures its efficiency by what it costs per pound to collect and move food to the agencies that distribute it. The lower it can keep its costs, the more it can stretch its donor dollars. It has been able to keep its costs at about 23 cents per pound for the past few years, about 18 percent lower than the average food bank in the Feeding America network.

Bob Chatmas, chief operations officer at Second Harvest, came to the organization in 2007 after 22 years at General Mills, where he was transportation and plant manager. Chatmas, guided by a board of directors that includes executives from Supervalu, Target, Cargill and 3M, has brought a Fortune 500 sensibility to the food bank operation. There is a focus on efficiencies and the kind of supply-chain practices used in the for-profit world. People at Second Harvest talk about "best practices" and "operational benchmarks" in the same way as a for-profit operation.

Second Harvest is in the process of seeking a highly coveted food-safety certification, the only food bank in the Feeding America program to do so. Chatmas said the certification will give Second Harvest instant credibility in the food industry, one other hurdle to convincing farmers, food manufacturers and retailers to join up with the organization.

Second Harvest's upgraded warehouse can hold 90 million pounds of food. Perishables move through there within 24 hours and into the hands of people such as Jennifer Lutz.

Lutz walked into the ICA food shelf in Minnetonka on Wednesday empty handed, and walked out with a bag full of groceries. Filled with canned goods, peanut butter and several loads of bread, this "emergency bag" will be enough to feed herself, her underemployed husband and their 7-and 9-year-old children for the next couple of days.

"It's horrible to be in this situation, but a relief to know I can come here for help," said Lutz who lives in Hopkins. She goes to school and works part time, but her husband is a contract worker whose hours marking underground utility lines get slashed when weather turns cold.

The single grocery bag is a Band-Aid to her family's hunger. She'll be back in a few days for even more.

Jackie Crosby • 612-673-7335