US food banks are rushing to stock supplies amid Snap lapse: ‘garner all the resources that we can’ | Trump administration

WTons of hungry Angelenos gathered outside the Community Space Food Bank storefront one recent afternoon, grabbing dry goods like pastries, bagels, lentils and pasta as well as refrigerated salads and frozen brisket bags.

Crowds come and go all day, founder Gaines Newborn said, but as news spread last week that the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) would end Saturday, he braced himself for the need for a dramatic increase.

“I’ve gotten more calls than ever from concerned people saying, ‘My food stamps are being cut, I need a plan,’” Newborn said. “People are trying to combat food insecurity. »

As the federal government shutdown enters its second month, the Trump administration announced that Snap, which helps about 42 million people buy food each month, would run out of funding in early November — something that has never happened before in the program’s half-century history.

Two separate federal judges on Friday blocked the government’s attempt to halt benefit payments, but the administration could appeal those orders to a higher court. Food banks remain on the lookout for a possible reduction in their benefits as they face increased demand from federal workers who were not paid during the shutdown, as well as people who have struggled to cope with rising food prices.

“Honestly, it’s hard to comprehend the magnitude of what will happen when 1.8 million New Yorkers don’t have the convenience they rely on to shop for groceries,” said Nicole Hunt, director of public policy and advocacy at the Food Bank of New York, which serves the nation’s most populous city.

The organization, which is the largest in New York City, plans to step up its aid during the time Snap is unavailable, but Hunt said it can’t match the level of help provided by the federal program.

“We’re going to do what we do, which is show up with food. We’re going to try to focus as much as possible on the neighborhoods that are going to be hit hardest and gather all the resources that we can, but that’s just not a scale that we’re going to be able to achieve, and that’s the reality of how important Snap is and how many people rely on it,” she said.

The federal government shut down on October 1, after Democrats and Republicans in Congress failed to agree on legislation that would have continued funding. About 700,000 federal workers have been furloughed and hundreds of thousands more have been asked to keep working to earn wages that won’t arrive until funding is restored.

The standoff has continued as Republicans refuse Democratic demands to pair government funding legislation with an expansion of tax credits that have reduced the costs of Affordable Care Act health plans. While Senate Republican leaders have tried 13 times to pass a bill to reopen the government, Democrats refuse to budge and there is no sign of a resolution in sight.

The instant benefits have continued through previous shutdowns — including those that took place during Donald Trump’s first term — and an Agriculture Department report outlining their plans for the latest funding shortfall indicated they would continue through this one as well.

But that report was removed from the department’s website and replaced with a message that attacked Democratic senators and said: “At the end of the day, the well has run dry. At this time, no benefits will be paid on November 1.”

David Super, a professor at Georgetown Law, said that between the money allocated to Snap and funds for other programs that the law allows it to reuse, the department could keep the Snap dollars flowing, if it wanted.

“The clear intent of Congress is that this money be available to pay for benefits,” Super said at an event hosted by the Brookings Institution. “They are cutting benefits to pressure Senate Democrats, and they posted this offensive and dishonest statement on their website, trying to blame anyone but themselves for this completely voluntary termination of Snap benefits.”

The expiration of the program will create a need that not just any food bank will be able to fill.

On average, Snap provides 95 million meals per month in New York. Over the last year, Food Bank For NYC has distributed 85 million meals, said Zac Hall, senior vice president of programs.

“We see mothers worrying about what they’re going to make for their kids’ dinner, grandmothers worrying about what they’re going to put on the table for Thanksgiving meals,” Hall said.

In the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park, Second Harvest Heartland, the nation’s second-largest food bank, is stockpiling more inventory in anticipation of Snap’s end, according to CEO Sarah Moberg.

“The Hunger Relief Network was not designed to do Snap’s job,” Moberg said. “We are designed to meet a person’s acute dietary needs in an instant, and Snap is designed to do it much more efficiently. »

The pain of a cut would be particularly acute for federal workers who are already struggling to go without their regular paychecks.

“It’s horrible,” said Christina Dechabert, 52, a Bronx resident who works without pay for the Transportation Security Administration at John F. Kennedy International Airport. “You talk about trying to survive without a check. I had to go to a food bank to get food so our family could survive.”

A mother in New York, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was considering removing her two-year-old child from day care because she and her husband both worked in the federal government.

“We’re in a household where we both don’t have a salary, so that’s the hardest part,” she said. “My son is under three, so there’s no free daycare, so if it lasts another month or so, I might just take him out and keep him at home so I don’t have to pay for daycare.”

Joshua Cobos, a volunteer at Community Space in Los Angeles, is a Snap winner himself. He hopes the credit he earned from his hours at the food bank will get him over the threshold for benefits.

“I’m accumulating as much as I can here, and with everything that’s coming up, I feel like we’re going to be busy,” Cobos said.

Some cities and states have decided to anticipate the financial consequences of the Snap cutoff. New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency on Thursday, which would free up $65 million in state funds for food banks. Tim Walz, Minnesota’s governor, is sending $4 million in state funding to food shelves to manage the Snap gap, but the need is much greater: $73 million is coming from federal funds to Minnesota for the program.

The Atlanta Community Food Bank, whose monthly needs have increased 70% over the past three and a half years, announced Thursday that it would draw $5 million from its reserve to stock its pantries in anticipation of a surge in demand from unpaid federal workers and Snap recipients. Andre Dickens, the city’s mayor, also announced a temporary moratorium on evictions and water shutoffs to support residents affected by the cessation of food aid.

Super, the Georgetown law professor, warned that Snap’s shutdown bodes ill for the program’s long-term future in Washington.

“So far, this has been neither political nor ideological, and it would be tragic if we crossed that line and this became something that was simply part of a partisan war,” he said.