On the eve of the expected pause to SNAP benefits, senators have left the Congress floor amid the federal shutdown. Insiders have no faith that Republicans and Democrats will ban together to stop almost 42 million Americans from going without food come Nov. 1. So with that, local communities are forced to pick up the slack, and their shelves are emptying with the sudden, increased demand.
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Food banks nation-wide are reporting significant increases in demand following the shutdown. In New York state, nearly 3 million Americans relying on SNAP will go without benefits, and consequently, they’ll go without access to nutritional food. Now, affected Americans are lining up at organizations like Food Bank for NYC after the government dropped the ball.
In the past week alone, Food Bank for NYC organized to support federal workers after hundreds of thousands of employees didn’t receive paychecks. The event held near LaGuardia Airport was designed to provide food access to TSA workers and air traffic staff, who returned to work with no promise of a check anytime soon. The organization fed 380 household and 1,347 people on Tuesday (Oct. 28), proving they’re ready to keep up with the growing demands of New York communities.
“We’re absolutely prepared,” Lily Apple, the manager of public relations at Food Bank for NYC, told us. The 40-year-old organization is the city’s first food bank. They even provided mobile food services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, other food banks and pantries around the country are struggling to keep up with the millions of folks in need.
Eighteen million households reported being food insecure in 2023, according to data from the Department of Agriculture. Black households experience food insecurity more than twice the rate of white households. And without SNAP, nation-wide food insecurity is expected to rise drastically.
Beth Martino, the president and CEO of Three Square in Nevada, told state lawmakers food banks are not the ultimate solution for solving food insecurity. “This is not enough to meet the need, and there’s probably no way that philanthropy can fill this gap,” she said. “The answer is to reopen the government and run these programs as intended.”
While the pause on SNAP will be detrimental to recipients, health care professionals also warned long term affects will cause problems for every American. “As soon as you cut food access or benefits anywhere, you’re gonna see ripple effects,” Jen Lane, the senior Vice President of Healthcare Partnerships at ModifyHealth, told The Root.
Republicans and Democrats have put forth legislation to bring last minute funding for SNAP, but political insiders don’t believe it will matter come the Nov. 1 deadline.”I don’t know what a recovery time would be,” Lane continued. “I don’t have an answer because this is unprecedented for sure.” This would mark the first time SNAP benefits have been cut in American history.
What healthcare professionals do know, however, is the direct impact food insecurity has on public health. “There’s higher utilization of emergency rooms. There are preventable health issues, chronic conditions are worsening,” she added. “You can break our entire healthcare system by removing food access.”
States like California and New York are taking legislative action to support residents without the government’s help. Still, Lane urged Americans to ban together. “This is not a partisan issue, and it can’t be,” she said.
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