PEQUOT LAKES — The Lakes Area Food Shelf in Pequot Lakes was busier than usual Thursday, March 20, when U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., stopped by for a tour and a roundtable discussion about how federal funding cuts are affecting organizations that provide food for people in need.
I'm just hell-bent to do everything that I can to make sure, with the power that I have — which is limited right now — to not let the USDA and other federal partners off the hook as they back away from what I know Congress intended for them to do.
While shoppers filled their baskets, Tammy Larsen, Lakes Area Food Shelf director, showed Smith the shelves, refrigerators and freezer full of food, explaining how the local food shelf operates.
Afterward, Smith hosted a roundtable discussion with representatives of the food shelf, Second Harvest Northland, Sprout in Little Falls, and Brakstad Family Farm in rural Pequot Lakes.
At the end of the discussion, Smith said the chaos surrounding potential and real cuts to U.S. Department of Agriculture programs and federal funding is a disaster.
"I'm just hell-bent to do everything that I can to make sure, with the power that I have — which is limited right now — to not let the USDA and other federal partners off the hook as they back away from what I know Congress intended for them to do," Smith said.
"Congress passed these laws in order to support the work that you're doing right here, and I don't think that this administration should be able to just negate those laws without any accountability," she said.
Kicking off the roundtable discussion, Smith said: "First of all, thanks very much for the quick tour and seeing a little bit about the improvements that you've been able to make and the incredible work that you do.
"My goal for this conversation is to understand how you operate and how this works. I'm especially interested in the partnerships between organizations that make this all happen," she said.
"I'm also here because I'm very concerned, broadly speaking, about the issues around people not being able to afford the food they need to feed their families and the role this organization plays," Smith said, "but also a lot of concern about what's happening at the USDA."
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She wanted to know the local impacts of federal funding cuts.
"When I see places like the Lakes Area Food Shelf, what I see is communities coming together to help make sure that folks in this area have the food they need," she said. "And it's a very community-based, kind of grassroots-based, effort. I'm a senator, so my goal is to figure out how the federal government can be a good partner as you try to figure this out."
The idea is not to tell organizations what to do, but to support local communities' efforts when the need is so great and the demand is increasing, she said.
Larsen confirmed the Lakes Area Food Shelf has seen that increased growth.
Smith asked who uses the food shelf, saying many Minnesotans don't understand who relies on these services.
Dale Carlson, Lakes Area Food Shelf board chair, said they see all ages. He listed senior citizens, especially those who are 80 who started taking Social Security at 62, so they are receiving $1,300 a month.
"So there isn't money for food," he said, also citing single mothers, as well as grandparents on fixed incomes taking care of grandchildren, who need the food shelf's resources.
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"We see working families," Carlson said, referring to two-income families who work hard for minimum wage.
Larsen said the food shelf sees 160-180 unique families every week and 40 new families every month, though that number rose to 58 new families this past January.
Many times, a life event — such as an economic or health issue — prompts families to seek the food shelf's help.
Larsen said the food shelf is proud of its partnerships and the building expansion that occurred in 2023. That collaboration with other social services partners helps people not only with food needs, but job, safety and housing issues and more.
Looking at some of those federal programs — if SNAP gets cut, the amount of pressure that could put on local food shelves that are already seeing the increased demand and increased pressure would just be tremendous.
The roundtable included Lance and Robyn Bragstad and their daughter, Stephanie, of Brakstad Family Farm, who talked about their partnership providing fresh produce to the food shelf through the Farm to Food Shelf program.
Arlene Jones, co-founder and executive director of Sprout in Little Falls, and Kelsey Miller, director of partnerships and programs at Second Harvest Northland, were also part of the roundtable.
Second Harvest Northland provides food to food shelves.
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The importance of federal funding for programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP; The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP; and the Local Food Purchase Assistance program, or LFPA, were discussed.
"Looking at some of those federal programs — if SNAP gets cut, the amount of pressure that could put on local food shelves that are already seeing the increased demand and increased pressure would just be tremendous," Miller said.
Smith also visited Riverwood Healthcare Center in Aitkin on March 20, and both she and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., separately visited the Brainerd Family YMCA's new child care center.
Klobuchar also attended the Taste of the Lakes event that the YMCA hosted that night at the Northern Pacific Center in Brainerd.
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