The first four months of 2009 saw a record increase in visits to Minnesota food shelves.

Locally, Nancy Anderson, executive director of the Falls Hunger Coalition, said her group has seen a rise in food shelf use and a decrease in the amount and variety of food available.

The average number of households the coalition serves has gone up more than 13 percent since last year, and 43 brand new households have been added this year, she said. The food shelf averages 185 households per month.

“As much as we are grateful for everything done in the community, the pound per person (of available food) continues to go down,” Anderson said.

The pound-per-person food availability has decreased by one pound in the last year, and gone down three pounds since 2007, she added.

She attributed the increase in use and decrease in food to lack of adequate employment opportunities in the area and a general tightening of most budgets due to the slow economy. She said that economic troubles trickle down to the food shelf.

The Falls Hunger Coalition food shelf averaged 399 users per month so far this year, and 760 households are enrolled in the Senior Select voucher program for fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy.

Food selection has become an issue, as well, she said.

“Just being able to afford products we need has been a challenge. We just don’t have as many choices available for our clients. We don’t have the variety that we used to have,” she said.

She mentioned that canned meats such as tuna, chicken and Spam; canned fruits and fruit juices; and even staples like peanut butter, condensed soup and pork and beans were low. These items are often requested, Anderson said, and the food shelf finds these items in short supply.

Prices of specific foods are on the rise, even at the Hunger Coalition’s prices, and the Second Harvest North Central Food Bank, which works with the Falls coalition, also has a decreased variety and supply, she said.

And these food shelf stressers come on the heels of one of the most successful March food drives ever, Anderson said.

The community raised 73,189 pounds and dollars (one pound of food and one dollar are treated as equal) during the Minnesota FoodShare campaign, she said.

The Falls Hunger Coalition ranked 43 in the state for all food shelves, she added.

“We did a brilliant job for the size of our community,” she said. “I am so proud of our community.”

But even with increased community donations and recent grants, Anderson said that the Falls Hunger Coalition is struggling to meet the increased demand.

The coalition is budgeted to get 50 percent of its food and money from local donations, and other funding comes from grants and a small amount of state aid, she explained.

According to Anderson, the Falls Hunger Coalition’s current situation is not abnormal now.

“We’re not the ‘Lone Ranger’ in what we’re seeing,” Anderson noted.

Numbers released by Hunger Solutions Minnesota, a nonprofit group working to end hunger in Minnesota, also show an increase in food shelf use statewide.

The organization says visits to food shelves in the state totaled more than 614,000 in the first quarter of 2009. That’s an increase of 28 percent over the same period last year.

The number of children visiting food shelves also increased over the same time period, from nearly 192,000 in 2008 to over 236,000 in 2009.

Hunger Solutions says main factors are the recession, rising food costs and a steadily high unemployment rate.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.