Food shelf visits surge across Minnesota as inflation pressures students and workers

When Marlene Espinoza first decided to use the food pantry at Minneapolis College, she said she felt a little embarrassed about using the free resource, but when she showed up, she realized plenty of other students were in the same boat. 

"I was actually surprised. I was like, 'Wow, there's a lot of people here,'" Espinoza said. 

According to the community college, located just off Loring Park in downtown Minneapolis, more and more students are finding themselves needing to come to the food pantry thanks to unpredictable food prices. Minneapolis College recorded 1,566 visits over the last three months, with 54,043 pounds of food distributed. 

Heidi Goettl, the director of the college's Student Resource Center, said that the numbers have essentially doubled since this time last year; she said donations and local government grants keep them open and able to handle the influx. 

"Right now we're OK, but that is something that we always worry about and what can we continue to offer?" Goettle said. 

The uptick is reflected statewide. According to The Food Group, a nonprofit that oversees and supports similar operations across Minnesota, there were more than 9 million visits to food shelves in 2025. That was two-and-a-half times the number of visits in 2019 and five times the number of visits from more than 20 years ago. 

Sophia Lenarz-Coy, Executive Director at The Food Group, said that she expects 2026 to have similar numbers, noting that many of the people they support have full-time jobs. 

When prices of food go up, or the prices of gas go up, people get really pinched and need to rely on additional support," Lenarz-Coy said, "it really is about of this idea of how do you make ends meet?" 

A CBS News analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Data found that food prices have gone up 2.5% compared to one year ago. Gas is up 34.2%.