Federal cuts have emptied Minnesota food shelves. Officials say things could get worse.

Each month, thousands of people wait for food at a north Minneapolis church.

Hundreds trek to Gethsemane Lutheran Church every day, traveling from as far as Champlin, Richfield and Anoka. Some are old. Many are young with toddlers. Most come from poverty and depend on the church’s food shelf to get by.

But the pantry is at risk of going bare.

Federal cuts to the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) slashed more than a million pounds of food headed to Minnesota food shelves this summer, forcing places like Gethsemane to reduce staff, hours and the amount of food they provide. That’s left more people going hungry, and officials say at this rate, things are likely to get worse.

“The forward trajectory of these cuts is that families that are making steps towards a brighter future now fall back into dark times,” the Rev. Jeff Nehrbass said.

Hunger-relief programs could soon face even higher demand with officials warning there won’t be enough funds to pay Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to those in need if the federal shutdown continues into next month.

“Food stability is so important for violence prevention, for household stability, that not having those resources throws all of that up in the air,” Nehrbass said.

However, earlier this year the U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended $500 million in food deliveries previously allocated under TEFAP as part of efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration to reduce federal spending. The funding was first provided to help food networks struggling through the pandemic.

Kate Weeks, an assistant commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families, said her department received 674 truckloads of food from the program last year. The department was prepared for the program to cut funds this winter, but federal officials gutted those funds months early, halting 34 truckloads of milk, eggs, chicken and other food.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture obtained by ProPublica , the reduction translated to cancellations for 94 million pounds of food across the U.S. The Minnesota Star Tribune requested and analyzed that data for Minnesota, finding that more than 1 million pounds of food valued at more than $2 million was pulled from the state this year.

“These are critical investments and food needed for the entire food network,” Weeks said.

At Gethsemane Lutheran Church, which is also known as the Camden Promise Food Shelf, staffers were forced this June to reduce the amount of food that residents could take, from 20 items to seven. Some are turned away without food, returning the next day to draw a lottery number marked on more than 100 wooden Jenga blocks.

Mary Thomas, a volunteer of seven years, formerly waited in line for the church’s food. Reducing the days the food shelf is open would have a large impact, especially on those who are homeless, she said.

“They look forward to getting this food,” Thomas said.

In greater Minnesota, food shelves have had to cut down on how often shoppers can visit. At the St. Peter Area Food Shelf, a dozen miles north of Mankato, shoppers used to be able to visit twice a month, but now can only go once.

“Quite frankly, we don’t have the food or the funds to keep up with the increase in clients that we are seeing,” said Jodi Donley, coordinator at the St. Peter Area Food Shelf.

This spring, the food shelf lacked the oranges, pineapples or asparagus they had in previous years. And in the summer, shipments of bad corn and cabbage meant that for two months, about 30% of the fresh items that came in had to be thrown out, Donley said.

On a visit to St. Peter in October, the shelves were full of fresh produce, in part due to a program that finds food about to be thrown away, said manager Cynthia Favre. The food shelf has also turned to regional Second Harvest Heartland food bank to supplement its produce. But now it can be harder to anticipate shipments.

“It used to be that we would kind of know what we were going to get, when we were going to get it, when there would be change,” Favre said. “But right now, that’s kind of off the table.”

Zach Rodvold of Second Harvest Heartland said many of their more than 1,000 partner food shelves and hunger-relief programs across the state are scrounging for supplies amid increasing demand. Many have pivoted to donations from community members or rescuing food that grocers would trash, but Rodvold says that’s not sustainable.

“There’s only so many rocks we can look under for additional resources or ways to get food out of the system,” Rodvold said, “and I think we’re close to having maximized that.”

Last year, Minnesota food shelves saw a record of nearly 9 million visits.

“Families are feeling a lot of different pressure points,” said Weeks of the state Department of Children, Youth, and Families. “You have increasing food prices, you have changes to health care and health care costs, you have changes in our labor economy, you have changes in rising housing prices. ... With these fluctuations, it does have a ripple effect across communities.”

Food bank leaders said they believe conditions will worsen if the federal government reduces SNAP benefits. In an average month, about 440,000 Minnesotans receive SNAP benefits, which awards funds to low-income households to use for groceries at authorized stores and markets.

The ongoing government shutdown already forced state officials to pause SNAP applications this month, and federal officials warned they will not have money to fund SNAP if the shutdown continues into November.

“We don’t have another big lever ... to pull to increase the food available. We need help,” said Virginia Witherspoon, executive director of Channel One Regional Food Bank in Rochester. “Right now a hurricane, a flood and a tornado is happening at the same time across the U.S. as far as the increase in need.”

Nehrbass of Gethsemane Lutheran Church said TEFAP cuts have strained relationships among food shelves, forcing many organizers and clients to compete with each other for food.

“[Food insecurity] needs to be addressed by well-meaning, wonderful Twin Citians who want to reach out in love to support those who are less fortunate than them.”