‘Don’t hesitate, just come:’ Stigma around food shelves is a barrier for food insecure people

If you were to ask most people about the most iconic part of Thanksgiving, they would probably say the enormous feast shared with family and friends. Many people spend the week of Thanksgiving worrying about getting that feast together.

But about one in every eleven people in Minnesota are worried generally about where their next meal is coming from every day. Food insecurity has been more intense in the United States since the pandemic began almost five years ago.

Many factors go into people not having enough food and there aren’t simple answers. But food shelves do a lot of the heavy lifting, even for holiday meals.

Cindy Favre is the manager of the St. Peter Area Food Shelf just north of Mankato and she’s seen a lot of people struggling to get enough food in their households. She joined Minnesota Now to explain the problem and talk about the role of food shelves in the state.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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