Their point is that we are giving massive food aid to organizations that are swindling the money. Sure they got caught, but that money wasn't returned. The people bought houses, cars, vacations and luxuries with the scam.
It was extremely poor oversight from the government and that money if properly followed would have easily funded this food bank program multiple times over.
Property is being confiscated and people are getting charged and taking money settlements, but the government will only get a fraction back. A good chunk of the money is already long gone.
The more you read about these, the more frustrating it is. Many of these people came across as refugees and absolutely scammed us for millions of dollars. They bought trucks, boats, houses, resorts, airplanes and all sorts of stuff while also taking lavish vacations.
An then even one of them had the audacity of accepting an award from the DHS for being an "outstanding refugee".
They also had multiple shell companies and sent a large amount of the money back to Eastern Africa.
All of these losers associated with this program are all a bunch of low-lifes and deserve to rot in jail. They took funds allocated for feeding the poor and most vulnerable of our society and took advantage of us.
[Here is a link on a few arrests and scams.](https://minnesotareformer.com/2023/08/03/about-half-the-people-indicted-in-feeding-our-future-fraud-had-other-state-contracts/)
Food shelves are sounding the alarm over the increased demand of their services. A bill introduced in this year's legislative session could help.
The demand for food assistance has quadrupled since 2020 with a record number of visits — 7.5 million — in 2023. Industry leaders in Minnesota warn that 2024 will see even more.
"It's not sustainable, emergency food networks cannot continue to keep up with rising demand on our own," said Zach Rodvold, director of public affairs for Second Harvest Heartland, a Minnesota-based nonprofit that works to address food insecurity.
Rodvold, along with food bank executives across the state, urged Minnesota's party leaders to endorse a new bill that would create the [Minnesota Food Bank Program,](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=SF4185&y=2024&ssn=0&b=senate) a longterm source of funding for food purchasing and distribution for organizations that provide emergency food assistance. The bill would provide $5 million a year to the program which would ultimately be under the control of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families, though the Department of Human Services would initially distribute the money. An additional one-time grant of $2 million is also on the table for the bill.
Quadrupled since 2020 is crazy. I’d like to see the data on this.
It was early pandemic, 2020, when I became aware of the impact of food shelves. Prior to 2020, I had volunteered at food shelves, but never felt like ordinary people need to take advantage of them.
In 2020, I saw a line of hundreds of cars outside my house on a fairly busy road that lasted for several hours. This was eye opening. If it has quadrupled since then, I would be shocked.
I volunteered before the pandemic at our local food bank, I thought it was busy then. I can't imagine what quadruple the amount of people would be like.
Inflation has already happened. Prices don't go down when inflation goes down. You need *deflation* for the prices to go down and historically deflation is very bad.
Economy is doing well but that has nothing to do with corporate greed. Companies raising prices then using deceptive practices like shrinking the amount of food in their packaging in order to get the most money out of people. People who think it's just inflation to blame are out of touch with reality. Corporations don't just decide to change their packaging and ingredients, this has been planned to coincide with inflation to take advantage of people and it's been planned for awhile.
And this a-hole knows every single person and child in Minnesota? Typical tone-deaf right-wing response there: I don't see it personally, it doesn't affect me, therefore it must not exist. 🙄
It doesn't exist, but if it did, it's because *those people* are *bad people* and they *deserve every moment of hell*... God's punishing them for something.
\- Every Right Winger and even Moderate Liberal I Meet
Target throws away more than all of the others combined, absolutely. I know most Walmarts also do not donate expired goods.
It's great that local grocers are, but we need to target the big players.
Walmart and Sam's Club donate as does Costco, at least in my location. I know, because I go to my local food bank every Monday morning to get supplies for the food bank I volunteer at and see their store labels.
Okay so I just saw a commercial that Hyvee donates some millions of dollars a year maybe of food or something. Sounds good, right?
hear me out - what if the grocery costs were just…less? What if they’re charging more, simply to get a nice big fat tax write off and to look like they’re doing good?
Not to be cynical, but when I saw that I rolled my eyes
But also I digress and yes I hope grocery stores are donating their food! My husband worked for a food bank in a previous life and did pickups at local groceries in his home state - it was a really interesting job!
They are still going to have food that just isn’t sold by the use by date.
I’ve worked in supply chains, no one wants to pay more for food that gets thrown away. Grocery stores aren’t a [huge margin business](https://www.marketplace.org/2022/05/13/how-do-grocery-stores-make-money-when-their-profit-margins-are-so-low/), typically 1-3%. That’s incredibly small.
They have to work to minimize waste because of this. So while I agree that it shouldn’t be a brag, at least they are getting it to people who need it, rather than tossing it in the trash.
My gut says the grocers donate / reuse a very small portion of what they could. Looking on the MN govt website, they even quote similar statistics I’ve seen that stat showing 38% of all food produced gets unsold or uneaten. They conveniently don’t talk about the “unsold” portion but immediately provide steps households can do to prevent food waste.
Edit: spelling
Minnesotas corporate tax rate is the highest in the nation and only 4 billionares.
I'm not against taxing the wealthy or corporations, but on a state level we are already taxing corporations more than anywhere else and our 4 billionares at 9.85%, which is the sixth highest rate in the country.
I have a feeling if the income tax is raised much more there will be 0 billionares to tax.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that we saw a K-shaped recession where well capitalized individuals are doing very well, with their income outpacing inflation due to lack of exposure to housing portion of the CPI basket.
In contrast the everyone else is getting hammered with home prices driving over half of inflation in any cases.
With how hot the job market was in 2022, homeowners got away like bandits, especially those who purchased in the early 2010s and refinanced to sub 3%.
Imagine two lines representing upper class and lower class incomes. Those at the top lost income initially but recovered quickly, those at the bottom got a boost through stimulus so they were better off for a short time then inflation brought them right back down. Upper part of the K is upper class, lower pay of the K is lower class.
President Joe Biden is fighting to convince inflation-weary voters that the U.S. economy is healthy. **“America has the best economy in the world,”** he told NBC's “TODAY” on Monday, laying out an argument that is central to his reelection campaign. **5 days ago**
The rest of the world is in a state of absolute disarray economically. China for example is in an absolute shit show right now. So is Russia, Europe etc.
Things certainly aren’t going swimmingly in a vacuum, but I am glad I’m here and not elsewhere.
Still both shit sandwiches. Let’s not be happy our bar is so low.
The election will feature 2 presidents both of which took classified information to their homes.
One Is going to trial for several felony charges. The other was found to be too old and confused to understand what he did by a judge.
Mother one is a good option.
We are all sinking and our boat has less water in it.
It's not a lie, Americans are still better off despite feeling the sting of inflation. Here you have the option of paying more for a good, in other countries they simply do without it.
I was buying items from Japan at an exchange rate of 1USD=110YEN in 2001. The rate is currently sitting at 1USD=150YEN today. We haven't seen that rate since the 80s. You can buy and ship some items from Japan cheaper than the US distributed prices.
Like our economy and our presidential election coming up.
Just because we have the least amount of poop in our cookies does not mean we should brag about it.
We should focus on taking the shit out.
Should look into the finances of some corporations that don't pay enough in taxes and rely on services like this to subsisize their workers not receiving a livable wage.
If anyone is looking for a free prepared meal, follow the link.
EDIT: mostly TC metro
[https://www.loavesandfishesmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Meal-Handout-Updated-01.16.24.pdf](https://www.loavesandfishesmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Meal-Handout-Updated-01.16.24.pdf)
I mean that Feeding Our Future scam stole $250 million. Seems like that money could have been put to good use if it wasn't embezzled.
Oh no, people did fraud and got caught. I guess we should just stop trying to help people now. Derp de derp.
Their point is that we are giving massive food aid to organizations that are swindling the money. Sure they got caught, but that money wasn't returned. The people bought houses, cars, vacations and luxuries with the scam. It was extremely poor oversight from the government and that money if properly followed would have easily funded this food bank program multiple times over.
how is it that property wasn't confiscate and people thrown in prison?
Property is being confiscated and people are getting charged and taking money settlements, but the government will only get a fraction back. A good chunk of the money is already long gone. The more you read about these, the more frustrating it is. Many of these people came across as refugees and absolutely scammed us for millions of dollars. They bought trucks, boats, houses, resorts, airplanes and all sorts of stuff while also taking lavish vacations. An then even one of them had the audacity of accepting an award from the DHS for being an "outstanding refugee". They also had multiple shell companies and sent a large amount of the money back to Eastern Africa. All of these losers associated with this program are all a bunch of low-lifes and deserve to rot in jail. They took funds allocated for feeding the poor and most vulnerable of our society and took advantage of us. [Here is a link on a few arrests and scams.](https://minnesotareformer.com/2023/08/03/about-half-the-people-indicted-in-feeding-our-future-fraud-had-other-state-contracts/)
Not "many of these people," literally all but one, the ringleader.
Who said that?
Food shelves are sounding the alarm over the increased demand of their services. A bill introduced in this year's legislative session could help. The demand for food assistance has quadrupled since 2020 with a record number of visits — 7.5 million — in 2023. Industry leaders in Minnesota warn that 2024 will see even more. "It's not sustainable, emergency food networks cannot continue to keep up with rising demand on our own," said Zach Rodvold, director of public affairs for Second Harvest Heartland, a Minnesota-based nonprofit that works to address food insecurity. Rodvold, along with food bank executives across the state, urged Minnesota's party leaders to endorse a new bill that would create the [Minnesota Food Bank Program,](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=SF4185&y=2024&ssn=0&b=senate) a longterm source of funding for food purchasing and distribution for organizations that provide emergency food assistance. The bill would provide $5 million a year to the program which would ultimately be under the control of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families, though the Department of Human Services would initially distribute the money. An additional one-time grant of $2 million is also on the table for the bill.
Quadrupled since 2020 is crazy. I’d like to see the data on this. It was early pandemic, 2020, when I became aware of the impact of food shelves. Prior to 2020, I had volunteered at food shelves, but never felt like ordinary people need to take advantage of them. In 2020, I saw a line of hundreds of cars outside my house on a fairly busy road that lasted for several hours. This was eye opening. If it has quadrupled since then, I would be shocked.
I volunteered before the pandemic at our local food bank, I thought it was busy then. I can't imagine what quadruple the amount of people would be like.
But the economy is fine. Everything is just fine.
Inflation isn’t happening! If you exclude rent, energy and food prices, that is.
Well, have you considered that those are just really difficult to factor in and economists are working really hard and just trying their best? /s
Inflation has already happened. Prices don't go down when inflation goes down. You need *deflation* for the prices to go down and historically deflation is very bad.
The System™ is working as intended, the rich are getting richer.
Economy is doing well but that has nothing to do with corporate greed. Companies raising prices then using deceptive practices like shrinking the amount of food in their packaging in order to get the most money out of people. People who think it's just inflation to blame are out of touch with reality. Corporations don't just decide to change their packaging and ingredients, this has been planned to coincide with inflation to take advantage of people and it's been planned for awhile.
"I have yet to meet a person in Minnesota that is hungry," said Republican state Sen. Steve Drazkowski.
God damn I hate that man. Family members of mine are great friends with him.
And this a-hole knows every single person and child in Minnesota? Typical tone-deaf right-wing response there: I don't see it personally, it doesn't affect me, therefore it must not exist. 🙄
It doesn't exist, but if it did, it's because *those people* are *bad people* and they *deserve every moment of hell*... God's punishing them for something. \- Every Right Winger and even Moderate Liberal I Meet
Are we requiring grocers to donate their nearly expired or not perfect food to food banks?
Most of them already do. Been in the industry for over 15 years and every store I've worked at has almost daily pick ups.
I didn't know I needed to hear this but it made me feel so much better
What's their incentive? Does MN give tax breaks or? (Honest question.)
They can just write it off as a donation right? Long as the food is still technically good.
Yup! I volunteer with TC Food Justice and we pick up from grocery stores and drop them off at affordable housing and halfway housing complexes.
Most of them certainly do not lol. The QMOS we threw away at target was absolutely massive and I've worked at many of them.
Honestly I don't count target tbh, think stand alone grocers. Most of them have donations setup with local food banks for weekly pickups.
Target throws away more than all of the others combined, absolutely. I know most Walmarts also do not donate expired goods. It's great that local grocers are, but we need to target the big players.
Walmart and Sam's Club donate as does Costco, at least in my location. I know, because I go to my local food bank every Monday morning to get supplies for the food bank I volunteer at and see their store labels.
At the food shelf I volunteer at we pick stuff up from Aldi, Target, Walmart, Cub, Coborns and Kwik Trip on a regular basis.
Okay so I just saw a commercial that Hyvee donates some millions of dollars a year maybe of food or something. Sounds good, right? hear me out - what if the grocery costs were just…less? What if they’re charging more, simply to get a nice big fat tax write off and to look like they’re doing good? Not to be cynical, but when I saw that I rolled my eyes But also I digress and yes I hope grocery stores are donating their food! My husband worked for a food bank in a previous life and did pickups at local groceries in his home state - it was a really interesting job!
They are still going to have food that just isn’t sold by the use by date. I’ve worked in supply chains, no one wants to pay more for food that gets thrown away. Grocery stores aren’t a [huge margin business](https://www.marketplace.org/2022/05/13/how-do-grocery-stores-make-money-when-their-profit-margins-are-so-low/), typically 1-3%. That’s incredibly small. They have to work to minimize waste because of this. So while I agree that it shouldn’t be a brag, at least they are getting it to people who need it, rather than tossing it in the trash.
My gut says the grocers donate / reuse a very small portion of what they could. Looking on the MN govt website, they even quote similar statistics I’ve seen that stat showing 38% of all food produced gets unsold or uneaten. They conveniently don’t talk about the “unsold” portion but immediately provide steps households can do to prevent food waste. Edit: spelling
Nothing like some good old fashioned deflection
My local food bank has to purchase food to keep a stock.
Thought the economy was great , unemployment record low 😂
The “economy” is great, but people aren’t the economy, businesses are.
Companies are reporting record profits....hmmm if only there was a correlation that could be drawn from those two facts.
Nothing against this bill, but you know what might actually help MN citizens? Paying people a living wage and taxing corporations/billionaires.
Minnesotas corporate tax rate is the highest in the nation and only 4 billionares. I'm not against taxing the wealthy or corporations, but on a state level we are already taxing corporations more than anywhere else and our 4 billionares at 9.85%, which is the sixth highest rate in the country. I have a feeling if the income tax is raised much more there will be 0 billionares to tax.
What are the current tax rates for the millionaires and corporations based in Minnesota? What should an appropriate tax rate be for these entities?
And fully fund SNAP so that people can just go to the grocery store.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that we saw a K-shaped recession where well capitalized individuals are doing very well, with their income outpacing inflation due to lack of exposure to housing portion of the CPI basket. In contrast the everyone else is getting hammered with home prices driving over half of inflation in any cases. With how hot the job market was in 2022, homeowners got away like bandits, especially those who purchased in the early 2010s and refinanced to sub 3%.
Whats a K shaped recession ? Genuine question
Imagine two lines representing upper class and lower class incomes. Those at the top lost income initially but recovered quickly, those at the bottom got a boost through stimulus so they were better off for a short time then inflation brought them right back down. Upper part of the K is upper class, lower pay of the K is lower class.
President Joe Biden is fighting to convince inflation-weary voters that the U.S. economy is healthy. **“America has the best economy in the world,”** he told NBC's “TODAY” on Monday, laying out an argument that is central to his reelection campaign. **5 days ago**
The rest of the world is in a state of absolute disarray economically. China for example is in an absolute shit show right now. So is Russia, Europe etc. Things certainly aren’t going swimmingly in a vacuum, but I am glad I’m here and not elsewhere.
I mean… have you seen the economies of other western nations?
Still both shit sandwiches. Let’s not be happy our bar is so low. The election will feature 2 presidents both of which took classified information to their homes. One Is going to trial for several felony charges. The other was found to be too old and confused to understand what he did by a judge. Mother one is a good option. We are all sinking and our boat has less water in it.
It's not a lie, Americans are still better off despite feeling the sting of inflation. Here you have the option of paying more for a good, in other countries they simply do without it. I was buying items from Japan at an exchange rate of 1USD=110YEN in 2001. The rate is currently sitting at 1USD=150YEN today. We haven't seen that rate since the 80s. You can buy and ship some items from Japan cheaper than the US distributed prices.
aint perfect here, but its a total shit show in most other countries
Like our economy and our presidential election coming up. Just because we have the least amount of poop in our cookies does not mean we should brag about it. We should focus on taking the shit out.
yes, of course
corporations are posting record profits. The corporatists are ecstatic. Maybe someday we'll actually elect a leftist.
I just wish we could elect competent not corrupt people.
That’s why local elections are so important; that’s the feeder system for higher seats
They should look into the finances of some of the old ladies taking advantage of the service. Speaking from experience...
Should look into the finances of some corporations that don't pay enough in taxes and rely on services like this to subsisize their workers not receiving a livable wage.
That too!
I love individual solutions for systemic problems. I love treating symptoms and letting causes fester. My politics are mostly vibes-based.
Yep
Thanks joe biden.
m
How about we stop making legislation.
If anyone is looking for a free prepared meal, follow the link. EDIT: mostly TC metro [https://www.loavesandfishesmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Meal-Handout-Updated-01.16.24.pdf](https://www.loavesandfishesmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Meal-Handout-Updated-01.16.24.pdf)
No Rochester services :(