Food shelves fret that shutdown threatens supply

Published 1:18 pm Friday, July 1, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota government shutdown is threatening delivery of tons of food to pantries statewide.

Colleen Moriarty, executive director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota, says some 700,000 pounds of food from a federal program are due for delivery in the next two months. Moriarty says that depends on a single state employee who can work in a certain data management program.

She’ll go before a special master next week to ask that the employee be declared essential.

Nearly 950,000 more pounds of food already in warehouses can’t be distributed during the shutdown. Rob Zeaske (ZESS-kee) is executive director of Second Harvest Heartland, which distributes food to programs in 41 counties.

Zeaske says the food includes staples like applesauce, green beans, ground beef and chicken.