42 million Americans faced the prospect of losing food assistance and going hungry as the government fought over the distribution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits–formerly known as food stamps–across America.
Oct. 27, President Trump confirmed that due to the ongoing government shutdown, SNAP benefits would not be distributed in November, prompting alarm for millions of Americans who would now spend the month without the government assistance they rely on for food.
Just four days after Trump’s announcement, several states, including Washington, sued to continue funding through November using reserve funds that SNAP keeps for emergencies. Friday, Oct. 31, a federal judge ordered the government to continue funding SNAP, nullifying the Trump order and ensuring that SNAP recipients would receive at least some benefits.
Still, many SNAP recipients have yet to receive benefits due to bureaucratic delays, and those who do will only have half the amount paid to them than normal.
“SNAP administrators have said that there aren’t enough emergency funds to cover more than half of what they would need to send out for the month,” Associate Teaching Professor of Political Science Patrick Schoettmer said.
Roughly one in eight Americans are enrolled in SNAP, which provides people with the necessary assistance to put food on the table.
Christina Roberts, professor of English and an Indigenous (Nakota and Aaniiih) individual who grew up low-income, attests to the benefits that government assistance can bring to systemically exploited and harmed communities. For her, and the vast majority of those using SNAP, government assistance was a way to afford food when she and her family would have otherwise been unable to.
“I used to feel shame around it because it was not easy to be relying on food stamps, and it’s hard to be different than people around you. It took a long time to grow out of that,” Roberts said, adding, “I’ve grown to be more proud of it.”
Roberts’ experience is not uncommon among low-income and marginalized communities across the United States, with one in seven households experiencing food insecurity, and Latine and Black households having double the food insecurity rate of white households. Without SNAP benefits, a large number of people, especially marginalized ones, are badly affected.
College students aren’t exempt from food insecurity either. According to Assistant Dean of Student Care and Support Chris Fiorello, approximately 47 percent of undergraduate students at Seattle U experience some form of food insecurity, which is defined by the USDA as a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food. In contrast, only about one percent of Seattle U students use SNAP benefits regularly.
To help ensure that students have enough food, the Wellness and Health Promotion team at Seattle U has been working to keep the Wellness Cafe and Food Pantry running smoothly. The pantry provides free food to students, including fresh produce donated by Seattle U’s Edible Campus Initiative. Any student, regardless of their situation, can order a bag of food every week with no cost via PantrySoft. As of Nov. 1, students currently receiving SNAP benefits can request up to two bags per week.
“I think sometimes students have a perspective of, well, other people have a harder time than me, so I shouldn’t seek help,” Fiorello said. “But that’s not the right way to think about it. I encourage everyone to use our food pantry.”
Other resources are available, too: local organizations like Byrd Barr Place, Northwest Harvest, and the Seattle Food Committee–all of whom increased or prepared to increase operations after Trump’s announcement–offer food assistance.
The duration of the shutdown, as of Nov. 5, has reached a record-breaking five weeks, yet resolution doesn’t seem to be getting any closer.
“To open the government again, Congress can compromise on funding legislation, but neither side is really willing to,” Schoettmer said. “Their other option is to kill the ability to filibuster, but they’re not keen to do that either.”
Removing senators’ ability to filibuster would allow a simple majority, rather than a two-thirds supermajority, to pass funding legislation and end the shutdown immediately. Because Republicans hold 53 out of 100 seats in the Senate, the end of the filibuster would likely mean the end of the shutdown.
However, Republican leaders are hesitant to end the filibuster, despite President Trump’s urging that they do so. It would mean that the minority party in the Senate would lose the ability to block or delay bills they opposed, leaving it with fewer defenses against the majority party. If Republicans lose their majority, they would also lose significant power in Congress.
As partisan fighting continues in Washington, D.C., millions of Americans anxiously await to see when and how much they will receive in SNAP benefits. Despite the partial restoration, SNAP’s ability to feed those in need remains seriously hindered for the duration of the shutdown, and organizations will scramble to provide food for those in need.
