05/03/2026
Meet Britt Reuter, our new general manager.
Q: What's your 60-second biography?
A: I'm a licensed nutritionist, and I have a passion for food accessibility, health equity and community building. I've been in private practice for 10 years, and I'm excited to serve the south Minneapolis community at Minnehaha Food Shelf.
Q: Do you live in the neighborhood?
A: I do, I'm in Keewaydin. That was a huge draw, to be able to ride my bike or walk here. I've been in Minneapolis for two years now. I grew up in Stillwater, and I've lived in a handful of places, including eastern Wisconsin and Massachusetts. Every other place has been, 'It's good, we like it, we'll be here for a little while,' but as soon as my partner and I moved into our house in Minneapolis, we thought, 'We are going to be here forever.'
Q: What draws you to working at a food shelf?
A: The biggest part is just how food access is a big predictor of health. You can't improve your health if you're not eating enough, you can't improve your diet if you're not eating enough. It all starts with eating enough.
Q: You've been on the job for a few weeks. How's it going?
A: My first order of business has been getting acquainted with how things currently operate. I'm learning a lot from the volunteers. Everyone here seems to know how to organize and operate, which has been hugely helpful for me.
Q: Have you had any surprises?
A: To me it has been learning that all of the volunteers are self-starters. It was nice to arrive here on Day One and not feel that everyone was looking at me and asking, 'What do I do?' That was a nightmare I had, because I don't know what to do, I just got here [laughs]. It has been so nice that people come in and roll up their sleeves. They're ready to serve, they have a good attitude and they want to be here. They're in community with one another, but I also see how well they interact with clients, and all of that has been really heartening. I feel like, if I wasn't present, it would still continue to run, which in my opinion is a really nice feeling.
Q: What's next?
A: We'll be working collaboratively to make improvements. I think a lot of people have ideas, and they've been looking for an outlet to share them, so I'm trying to be as receptive and open as I can to feedback, and to new ways of doing things. Having operations go smoothly enables the clients to have a better experience, and that enables us to serve even more people. I think that that's always the goal, to do what we do well, do it efficiently and find opportunities to grow, because the need is growing.
You can reach Britt at [email protected].
