More Minnesotans turn to food shelves as rising costs strain household budgets

As some families put the finishing touches on Halloween costumes and prepared for trick-or-treating, others spent part of their weekend gathering groceries at a Maplewood food shelf, looking for ways to make their budgets stretch further.

“We have to stretch what we have,” said Kim, one of hundreds of visitors at Today’s Harvest Food Shelf on Saturday. “Everybody’s kind of going through it these days with prices and everything.”

Her experience reflects what hunger-relief organizations say they’re seeing across Minnesota, as more families turn to food shelves for help, including many first-time visitors.

“People are just really struggling in a number of different ways,” said Jessica Francis, executive director of Open Cupboard, the nonprofit that operates Today’s Harvest food shelves. “They’re just not seeing the relief because the price of gas ...