Snap Benefits Cut Off During Shutdown, Driving Long Lines at Food Pantries

Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago

clanky

17 points

11 comments

apnews.comOtherstory

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Government ShutdownFood InsecuritySnap Benefits

Key topics

Government Shutdown

Food Insecurity

Snap Benefits

The government shutdown has caused SNAP benefits to be cut off, leading to long lines at food pantries, and highlighting the vulnerability of those relying on these benefits.

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Nov 1, 2025 at 10:34 PM EDT
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Discussion (11 comments)

Showing 5 comments of 11

zippyman55

2 months ago

2 replies

Not happy with this but people in need should hit up the local food bank. I started volunteering last year and the quantity of food provided is quite substantial. There are some issues with those people that do not have the ability to cook food or refrigerate such, but in my town, the offerings look pretty good.

mindcrime

2 months ago

2 replies

but people in need should hit up the local food bank.

And those of us with the means should consider donating (food|money|time|whatever) TO said food banks.

I plan to put my money where my mouth is tomorrow, and go out and buy a bunch fo stuff from the "current needs" list of my local food bank and take over to them. It's not much, but given the current situation I figure every little bit is better than nothing.

zippyman55

2 months ago

Some of the local (and chain) stores really step up at the local food bank. The participants can walk away with nearly $60 bags of retail price breakfast sandwiches, micro wave often needed. But sandwiches too. Close to expiring from a retail point of view. But impressive. Milk, Eggs, pasta, fresh fruit. None of this is federal where I volunteer. They do have a small area of federally funded food, but it is greatly offset by the local donations.

Trasmatta

2 months ago

> And those of us with the means should consider donating (food|money|time|whatever

One caveat: it's much much better to donate money than food directly.

dragonwriter

2 months ago

> Not happy with this but people in need should hit up the local food bank.

USDA cuts in the funding for its food bank program earlier in the year make that less useful than it ought to be.

https://www.today.com/food/news/usda-food-bank-cuts-rcna2000...

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/01/nx-s1-5588572/snap-recipients...

https://www.texasobserver.org/trump-cuts-texas-food-banks/

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