MN Daily: All public, nonprofit private colleges in Minnesota now eligible for state funding for food insecurity

The Minnesota Daily covered the expansion of the LeadMN Hunger Free Campus Designation to all higher education institutions in Minnesota. Read the complete story.

The designation was originally drafted in 2019 by LeadMN, a student-led organization that represents two-year college students in Minnesota. The designation passed, but only included state community and technical colleges and did not include funding to help schools start programs.

“What was really interesting about not having the money was we actually saw that [the designation] was still effective,” said Matt Gutsch, the director of government relations for LeadMN.

Through follow-up assessments, LeadMN found that schools were opening food pantries, creating basic needs coalitions and holding educational events to meet the five requirements to be “hunger-free,” even without funding. The designation outlined tangible steps for colleges to follow to address food insecurity, Gutsch said.