Free grocery store Today's Harvest opens 2nd location in Maplewood
MAPLEWOOD — It looks like any other grocery store, but when you check out at Today's Harvest in Maplewood, shoppers aren't spending a dime.
"We are happy to serve anybody who needs this," Open Cupboard Executive Director Jessica Francis said. "Because this food needs them too."
It's a grocery store with fresh food at no cost or questions. Today's Harvest is an initiative by Open Cupboard, an Oakdale food shelf. The unique food market opened its second location in Maplewood Tuesday afternoon. There was a line outside by 10 a.m.
The market will serve about 3,800 families each week and save 20,000 pounds of food from the trash each month. Food that grocers may throw out is picked up each morning.
"We can get that food where it's needed before it spoils," Francis said. "And that's something that helps everyone in our community."
It's a community that's feeling pressures to make ends meet. Grocery prices are still up 20%.
"We know the food budget is the first to be cut when a family is weighing out their bills," Second Harvest Heartland CEO Allison O'Toole said.
Leaders in the industry say 2 million more Minnesotans are expected to visit food shelves by the end of this year after a record-setting 7.5 million visits in 2023.
"Efforts like this, initiatives like this, will help get us there," O'Toole said. "We have to think differently about our work and that's what today's about."
A partner of Open Cupboard, O'Toole said Second Harvest Heartland is working to cut Minnesota hunger in half by 2030. O'Toole and other industry leaders plan to lobby for change at the Capitol to help make that happen.
"All across Minnesota, we understand that there are people that are living with food insecurity," DFL Majority Leader Sen. Erin Murphy said. "And with every session in the legislature, we need to pursue solutions."
Today's Harvest is open six days a week in both Maplewood and Oakdale. You don't need an appointment to shop there and can make a shopping trip there as often as you need.
