Loaves and Fishes served its one millionth free, healthy meal in October 2019, two months earlier than 2018. The momentous milestone took place October 21 and was observed at two dining sites: during lunch at Salvation Army North in Minneapolis and for dinner at St. Stephens Church in Minneapolis. Loaves and Fishes’ executive director, Cathy Maes, presented Golden Plates to three Minnesotans experiencing hunger, symbolizing the over 1,000,000 meals served in 2019 and reflecting Minnesota’s stubbornly high food insecurity rate.
KMSP Fox 9 was on hand during lunch to report on the event and spread the message of the problem of food insecurity in Minnesota.
Food insecurity is the limited or uncertain access to affordable, nutritious food; hunger is a physiological condition that results from food insecurity. The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) reports that 15.0 million U.S. households were food insecure at some time during 2017, with Second Harvest Heartland reporting that 1 out of 11 Minnesota households are currently affected by hunger, meaning over 500,000 Minnesotans live day-to-day with food insecurity. Even factoring in food banks, Feeding America reports 100 million meals will be missed yearly because of need.
Loaves and Fishes thanks all who helped make sure people in need receive a healthy meal.
