Hunger hurts us all. Fight hunger where you live.

Hunger has doubled in Minnesota over the past five years. One in 10 Minnesotans misses 10 meals per month, forced to make choices between food and other necessities such as housing, utilities and health care. Children account for 40 percent of Minnesota's hungry.

Hunger-Free Minnesota is a statewide initiative to fight hunger in our communities. It is the first statewide campaign of its kind in the country. It unites a coalition of business people, community leaders, government policy specialists, communities of faith, food banks, food shelves, aligned agencies and thousands of volunteers in a fight against the devastating and debilitating effects of hunger.

What is the Mission of Hunger-Free Minnesota?

Our mission is to ensure no Minnesotan goes without food in their time of need. We, as Minnesotans, are working together to provide enough food for our neighbors who need it most.

What is the Goal of the Hunger-Free Minnesota Campaign?

To close Minnesota's gap of 100 million missing meals, annually and sustainably, for Minnesotans in need by 2014.

Who is Working for Hunger-Free Minnesota?

Hunger-Free Minnesota has united a statewide coalition of Minnesota community, corporate and hunger-relief partners. Learn more about our partners by clicking here.

The campaign is led by a steering committee consisting of Minnesota-based chief executives who have dedicated their time and considerable talents toward the success of this effort. They include:

To learn more about the full-time staff of Hunger-Free Minnesota, click here.

Where Did The Idea For Hunger-Free Minnesota Begin?

In 2008, Second Harvest Heartland partnered with the University of Minnesota Food Industry Center to establish and quantify a measureable finish line for hunger in Minnesota. After several months of research, the Missing Meals Study was released demonstrating that hungry Minnesotans in need were missing more than 100 million meals on an annual basis. This initial data, which has been updated recently by a new study entitled Map the Meal Gap from Feeding America, provided a spark to begin conversations on a statewide level to better understand hunger in our state and find a way to close this gap in missing meals.

Hunger-Free Minnesota was created in March, 2010 when a founding coalition of eight hunger-relief organizations, working collectively across Minnesota, banded together to form a collaboration that would close Minnesota's gap in missing meals. Over the past year, Hunger-Free Minnesota and its partners have released four additional groundbreaking research studies, created an action plan that will close our missing meals gap on an annual and sustainable basis, vetted our plan with nearly 500 key stakeholders statewide, and united a coalition of corporate and community organizations to fight hunger in Minnesota.

What Did You Find Within the Five Groundbreaking Research Studies?

Five critical research studies provided much-needed data about how many meals hungry Minnesotans are missing every year, a localized look at missing meals data in every Minnesota county, the $1.2 billion cost of hunger in our state, and an analysis of a federal nutrition program that is currently underutilized.

• The Map the Meal Gap Study (2011) identifies a gap of 100 million missing meals for the 583,000 hungry Minnesotans in need. CLICK HERE TO READ
• The Hunger in America/Minnesota Study (2010) follows the unrelenting rise of hunger in Minnesota as the economy weakens, especially its rise among children. CLICK HERE TO READ
• The Cost/Benefit Hunger Impact Study (2010) quantifies what the effects of hunger are not only on the hungry, but on society as a whole. CLICK HERE TO READ
• The SNAP Access Study (2010) highlights Minnesota's low participation rate in this federal food assistance program. Higher usage could lead to less hunger and huge savings. CLICK HERE TO READ
• The [Original] Missing Meals Study (2008) documents the number of meals Minnesota's hungry citizens miss every month because they must make other choices with their funds. CLICK HERE TO READ

How Will Hunger-Free Minnesota Succeed?

Working with a statewide coalition of partners from corporations, community organizations, and government-run entities, Hunger-Free Minnesota will implement a three-year action plan that has been vetted statewide by more than 500 key stakeholders and organizations. Our action plan is designed to increase the availability and access to millions of meals in three key areas:

1. Increase food supply and distribution through Minnesota's emergency food system by 50 million meals.
2. Increase awareness of and activation of benefits in the Minnesota Food Support program, a federally-funded food assistance program, adding availability of 30 million meals.
3. Maximize nutrition programs for children, leveraging existing programs such as school breakfast, free and reduced meals and summer meal programs, adding availability of 20 million meals.

Accomplishing these three objectives in three years will permanently add 100 million additional meals to the food pipeline, enabling many Minnesotans to leave hunger pangs — and their development and societal effects — behind.