When the USDA announced in late October that “the well has run dry” and there would be no Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits in November, it was the first time federal food security had not arrived in the program’s more than 60-year history.
Cutting off SNAP benefits shook people who had faith in the government to provide a safety net, said, Cyndi Kirkhart, CEO of Facing Hunger Food Bank in Huntington, West Virginia.
“The one certainty that folks had for a long time was regardless of what else is happening we’ll have SNAP benefits, we can provide for our families. There is no certainty now. I don’t have it,” she said. “When you shake people, it takes a while to recover.”
Until the benefits actually arrive on people’s EBT cards, the debit card facsimile used by SNAP recipients, she’s going to act as if it isn’t coming. Her food bank usually distributes 1 million pounds of food a month. They distributed that much in the first week of November alone.
She said the only reason the food bank made it through was the governor sent money and the national guard to help.
Some people may be warily looking at the next funding deadline, which Congress set at fewer than three months away.
The bill to reopen the government partially funds the federal government for nearly a full year and provides the Department of Agriculture with funding through September 2026.