By Julie Siple, Minnesota Public Radio News

A few decades ago, a food shelf was sometimes just that — a shelf with food on it. Perhaps it was a cupboard in a church basement.

But in recent years, food shelves have become such a central part of the way the nation fights hunger that it’s easy to forget they didn’t always exist.

In Minnesota, visits to food shelves jumped 62 percent between the fall of 2008 and last fall. Many of the people now visiting food shelves are seeking help for the first time.

Not only is the face of hunger changing in Minnesota, so are the food shelves. Some food shelves have evolved into social service organizations that give people more than just food.

At the ICA Food Shelf in Minnetonka, for example, clients sign in at the front desk, and are sent to a social worker who talks to them about their budget.

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