As our executive director, Sophia Lenarz-Coy, recently noted, we continue to live in unprecedented times. More Minnesotans received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds in 2023 than in any year since 2016, and food shelf visits continue to break state records. As we consider these troubling trends and look ahead to 2025, it’s important to […] Read more
Lived Experiences Have the Power to Shape Public Policy
How Individuals and Their Stories Create Community-Informed Solutions We believe that in order to solve food insecurity and hunger, solutions must come directly from the people living closest to the issue. People like Lisa, who is turning her experience navigating the emergency food system in Minnesota into advocacy work that helps others walking in similar […] Read more
A Note From Sophia
As we close out 2024 and look ahead to the new year, I am struck that we continue to live through unprecedented times. Unprecedented. Wasn’t that the most overused buzzword of 2020? And yet I use it now to reflect on this past year as well. When we look at food needs across our state, […] Read more
How Farm to School Programs Feed Students While Supporting Emerging Farmers
We believe everyone deserves access to nutritious and locally sourced foods, and we know from experience that this access is made possible in part by collaborative relationships with other community organizations. The partnership between our Big River Farms program and Minneapolis Public Schools’ farm to school program is just one way we help ensure Minnesotans […] Read more
Creating a More Climate-Smart Food System
Something we think about a lot at The Food Group is how we can embed more climate-smart strategies into the work we do. Sustainable agriculture is not just a buzz word — the farmers we work with through our Big River Farms program see the results of our changing climate in real time, from last […] Read more
