At the beginning of November, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program came to a halt after the government shutdown has lasted for over a month now. The program provides monthly assistance to low-income individuals and families for food. SNAP is a much needed resource for about 42 million Americans, handing out varied amounts of money to households depending on their needs, income, and the amount of people in a family.
While SNAP alleviates some of the financial pressures for these families and can nourish them, most people need to turn to food pantries as a way to ensure meals come to the table. Now, without SNAP most people will be turning to food pantries.
How will the delay in SNAP benefits affect people:
Jewelia Albarran, a sophomore TRF major at Syracuse University originally from San Diego, California is a friend of mine who since she can remember has received SNAP benefits. She describes SNAP as life-saving, because growing up in a low-income family of seven meant that money was mostly going towards rent, clothes, and transportation. Albarran initially did not want to believe that there was going to be a delay in SNAP benefits, saying it worried her knowing how much her family and others truly rely on SNAP.
“My mom just sold my car to help (with) her expenses. But, what she was telling me yesterday was we're basically screwed,” Albarran says. “Like, how is she going to feed my younger siblings? How are we going to get these types of benefits anymore when we're already struggling financially."
Albarran says even while her family was receiving SNAP benefits, they still at times needed food pantries as a way to have extra, more nutritious food. In her opinion, when Albarran thinks about how overpopulated California is, she's worried food pantries cannot handle the amount of people who may be asking for donations in the coming weeks.
“We're really going to have to have people willing to help us. I feel like they're gonna put limits. I fear that they're gonna say this amount for this many people when you go in, which is really hard,” Albarran said.
Can Upstate New York food pantries handle the surge of people coming in for donations?
Susan Rauer, a volunteer who has been at Saint Matthews Food Pantry in East Syracuse for 13 years, says that their food pantry can only provide their clientele with five days worth of food for the number of people in a family. After that, SNAP fills in the gaps. Now that SNAP benefits are on hold, Rauer’s worried that there will be no way that their Food Pantry can feed all of their families for a whole month, so they’ve limited families to coming once or twice a month.
“One day we had 29 families come in, we were only open for three hours, and you just run out of food. I mean we weren't completely out of food, but out of a lot of the food that we distribute to the families,” Rauer said. “So there is a concern that we're (not) going to be able to keep our shelves stocked.”
Before the delay of SNAP, food pantries across the country already had instances of running out of food. Food banks, which are often confused for food pantries, are bigger operations where most agricultural and retail donations go through. Food banks are where food is sorted and distributed to local food pantries.
Even with donations, sometimes more food is needed. Most food pantries ask for monetary donations or launch food drives, but Saint Matthews Food Pantry uses a creative approach. Volunteers run a second hand store in the front that contributes to building rent and buying more food from a local Wegmans if not enough food comes in.
What are some problems New York food pantries face that could be exacerbated by more people in need of donations?
Barbara Hemmerlein, is a co-program runner and volunteer for Saint Matthews Food Pantry in East Syracuse, she has volunteered there for 35 years. Hemmerlein says despite what most people think, food pantries are mostly staffed by volunteers. A problem they have experienced is that they do not have the man-power to deliver food.
“We just don't have the people to deliver. We have people living in motels put in there by social services, and there's no way to get here if they have no vehicle. So some of them have been walking here, and it's a distance on a dangerous road,” Hemmerlein said.
In a private study done by the volunteers of Saint Matthews Food Pantry five years ago, they found that 50% of their clients do not have methods of transportation. As the years have gone on, they notice more of their clients who had cars now do not. In most food deserts across the United States, transportation keeps food inaccessible for those who need it most.
“I just think the general population has to support these pantries. I think it's our duty as human beings to support one another,” Hemmerlein said.