If the federal government shutdown doesn’t end in the next week, food assistance advocates say thousands of Minnesotans could go hungry.
Those advocates joined local and state officials at a Friday news conference to reiterate their concerns.
The federal government shutdown has paused federal funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. It provides food benefits to low-income families.
The loss of federal funding leaves a $73 million void in Minnesota’s nutritional safety net, and state officials say there isn’t enough money to provide Minnesota participants with their November benefits.
Already-strained food banks in Minnesota say they’re concerned about a flood of increased demand, if that happens.
On average, Minnesota SNAP participants receive about $40 a week in benefits. These benefits are issued to a participant’s Electronic Benefits Transfer card, an electronic system used to access and spend SNAP benefits.
Stakeholders in food assistance programs said Friday that they are still looking at a Nov. 1 cutoff of SNAP benefits if the federal government shutdown continues.
The loss of SNAP benefits would cause a “hunger catastrophe,” said Sarah Moberg, CEO of Second Harvest Heartland. Second Harvest is the largest support resource team in the state, with a team of full-time SNAP outreach and assistance specialists.
“There is simply not enough food in the system, especially following state and federal cuts, to meet the current need, let alone the increased demand that we are expecting if SNAP benefits are truly disrupted in November,” Moberg said.
More than 440,000 Minnesotans who access SNAP and the Minnesota Family Investment Program, including 180,000 children and 67,000 seniors, may lose their grocery benefits. MFIP cash benefits will be issued as normal.
“Every single week, there will likely be more and more families going hungry,” Hennepin County Commissioner Irene Fernando said Friday. “These are our neighbors, our kids, classmates and friends, working families, parents, aunties, uncles — working hard, multiple jobs to ensure that food is on the table and that there’s a safe place for their families to lay their heads at night.”
Hennepin County alone receives 1,200 to 1,300 SNAP applications per week, according to Hennepin County Director of Economic Supports Reggie Wagner.
“These vital benefits that average around $6 a day, are for many families, the difference between going hungry and getting by. They’re not an extra benefit. They are incredibly essential to the lives of many, many Minnesotans,” said Tikki Brown, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families.