Second annual make hunger history summit

Over 450 members gathered at Second Harvest Heartland’s second annual Make Hunger History Summit on Friday, Feb. 27 to advance the organization’s goal of eliminating hunger for at least 90 percent of Minnesotans by 2030. As of September 2025, Second Harvest reported that 1 in 5 Minnesota households are food insecure.

This year’s theme was “Emerging Stronger.” As former mayor Melvin Carter described in his keynote address, “Any one of the handful of things that you all have had to respond to over the last several months could have been the whole year in and of itself, but you did it. … You made sure the families had food on the table.”

For Second Harvest CEO Sarah Moberg, “Emerging Stronger” is “more than just a slogan. It is a promise that despite the strain and the disruptions, despite the growing need, we will not be broken apart.”

The federal government shutdown, Operation Metro Surge and rising costs of living have all strained Minnesota’s hunger relief system in recent months. Operation Metro Surge has left many parents unable to go to work and many children who rely on school lunches unable to attend school. Moberg estimates that by March the organization will have delivered more than 100,000 boxes of food to Minnesota households impacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

The Trump administration’s current policies are pushing the hunger relief system to its limits, but the system was already overwhelmed.

“The need that food shelves and food banks have been trying to meet for so many years goes up and up and up, and we’ve realized we are on an unsustainable path,” Elizabeth Cooper, chief external relations officer at Second Harvest, said. “So the question then becomes: How do we feed the line, but also shorten the line?”

That’s why Make Hunger History seeks not only to feed people, but to ensure they’re no longer in need of food support. As Carter described, “You’re not fighting hunger. If you think you’re fighting hunger, you’re missing the point. You’re fighting poverty.”

Second Harvest emphasizes expanding its network to partner with organizations that provide housing and health care. Cooper explained, “We’ve got to create partnerships with the other basic needs folks and figure out how we work together to make sure that people don’t cut their food budget because they need to make rent; people don’t cut their food budget because they have to pay for their kids’ medicine.” Director of community partnerships and investment Angelica Klebsch added that they’re also exploring guaranteed income programs.

A key session reviewed the 2025 Statewide Hunger Data. The surveys Second Harvest conducts are unique in that they ask not only whether people are struggling with hunger, but also whether they are being supported and whether they need more support, the first surveys in Minnesota to seek that level of detail.

Moberg finds hope in the data: “For the second consecutive year, we have meaningful new data from the statewide hunger study that will guide us. It will tell us which households are most at risk, where the gaps are the widest, and which long-term solutions must take root. The numbers prove that the old way of thinking, when we consider hunger to be inevitable or too complicated to solve, is exactly the thinking that just keeps people hungry.”

The data was intended to be paired with federal United States Department of Agriculture data, but the Trump administration has revoked access. Michelle Londe, a data analyst at Second Harvest, said many organizations are now turning away from relying on federal data.

Second Harvest is also seeking more qualitative insight. “We are doing something called story banking,” Klebsch said. “We’re going to different parts of the community within our service region. … and we’re asking two things. One is: if you’re somebody who has experienced food insecurity, what are some of the things that contribute to that? … We also ask folks who formerly experienced food insecurity but are now in a place of economic stability, what helped you get there?”

The summit brought together 42 speakers with expertise spanning data analysis and public policy to donor relations and volunteer organizing. This breadth was intentional; while the first conference primarily featured speakers from Second Harvest, this one sought to bring partners into the conversation.

Moberg wants attendees to leave with energy, knowledge from their community and a stronger network.

“Minnesota’s hunger relief network [is] one of the strongest in the country,” Moberg said. “That is why today matters. This summit is not just a gathering. It is our chance to build what comes next.”

Anya Armentrout is a freelance journalist, student at Macalester College and contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.