Name: U.S. food assistance faces funding shortfall amid shutdown
Uploaded: 2025-10-28T18:38:48.916Z
Duration: 1 min 18 s
Description: Food banks and pantries, already struggling after cuts to federal programs, are bracing for a surge in demand as a federal food aid pause looms due to the ongoing government shutdown.

Food banks and pantries, already struggling after cuts to federal programs, are bracing for a surge in demand as a federal food aid pause looms due to the ongoing government shutdown.

Washington

Food banks across the United States are reporting an influx of new clients as federal workers, affected by the ongoing government shutdown, seek assistance due to missed paychecks. The situation is expected to worsen, with tens of millions relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at risk of losing benefits if the shutdown continues and Congress does not reach an agreement to reopen the government.

The Department of Agriculture has indicated that it will not use contingency funds to maintain SNAP benefits, intensifying concerns about food insecurity. Other programs, including Head Start and Essential Air Service, are also facing imminent funding shortages, potentially impacting children’s services and transportation in small communities.

U.S. food assistance faces funding shortfall amid shutdown

At food banks in the US, staff report seeing new faces as furloughed and fired federal workers go without a paycheck while the government remains shut down. Normally I would get paid today. I don't have no paycheck in my account. I still have bills that are due. I have a family that I have to take care of. So it's a lot of uncertainty that comes along with this. The problem is expected to get worse. Come November 1st, tens of millions of Americans who rely on food aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will not receive benefits, which renew monthly, unless Congress makes a deal to reopen the government. The Trump administration will not use $5 billion in contingency funds to distribute benefits as some lawmakers had hoped, according to a Department of Agriculture memo. What we know about food insecurity in this country is that volunteer food pantries like ours and others cannot meet the need. SNAP is an essential piece of meeting the food need in the United States. And SNAP is being cut. It's very tragic. And so we are concerned about sustainability. SNAP is only one of several programs that will run out of money starting Saturday. Head Start, a program funding health, nutrition and education services for over 800,000 children under six, and Essential Air Service, which subsidizes airline services to small communities, are also expected to run out of funding.

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