It’s officially the longest government shutdown in American history and SNAP benefits for vulnerable people are being used as political leverage. Two federal judges ruled the Trump administration should distribute half of SNAP benefits through an emergency contingency fund, but the president says that won’t happen until the shutdown ends.
At the Northern Illinois Food Bank's Neighborhood Market in Rockford, volunteers lined up shopping carts to keep them ready to roll. The market, which resembles a traditional grocery store, is open two days a week. The shelves are lined with cereal, cans of green beans and shelf-stable milk. They also offer premade meals, dairy products and frozen protein options.
The food bank expected more than a thousand neighbors to visit the Market this week. But Market Supervisor Thalia Uribe said there was such an influx of new neighbors that needed to be registered that fewer than 800 people were able to shop. She said checking into the market looks a little different from neighbor to neighbor.
“We don't require any proof of income, [or really] any documentation,” she said. “If you have an ID, great, if you don't, we'll just go with it.”
The food bank serves hundreds of thousands of neighbors every month, but Uribe said lines have been even longer than normal as people share where to find food on social media.
“I think people have just been preparing,” she said. "We've had neighbors calling saying, ‘With everything going on, I don't know if I'm gonna get SNAP, so I'm just looking for pantries.’”
The food bank has also started seeing federal workers come to the Market as the government shutdown continues.
Robert Desio oversees the food bank’s SNAP team that helps neighbors apply to federal benefits. He said the team has been answering a lot of phone calls recently.
“I think there's just a lot of confusion in the air,” he said. “So, people, I think, don't even know necessarily why they're calling, other than they're confused and they want to be reassured that the program isn't going away.”
The SNAP team helps more than 2500 people apply to SNAP every year, and Desio said about 75% of applicants they help get approved for benefits. He said there has been a stigma around food assistance for as long as he can remember but the conversation is starting to turn.
“I think people are paying attention to SNAP and hunger in a way that they don't always,” he said. “It has been heartening to see [people] rally around this issue because we think hunger shouldn't exist in our country.”
The federal government rolled out emergency SNAP at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to allow people to max out their benefits. Desio said that when that program expired in spring 2023, there was a massive spike in neighbors visiting pantries. And those neighbors have continued to come.
“An average SNAP benefit might be $100,” he said. “We're taking that away from them. The impact that that's going to have on them, it's just, it's overwhelming to think about. It's heartbreaking that that as a society, that these are the choices that we're making.”
In the fiscal year of 2023, the average SNAP benefit was $177 per person, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Desio said that for every meal a food bank provides, SNAP provides nine. He’s worried about the looming gap.
“I just feel bad saying that we can't meet the need, because that's just not how we think,” he said. “But it is a reality that food banks cannot match SNAP. We're just not on that scale.”
Thalia Uribe, the food bank supervisor, said that while food and monetary donations are important, the food bank can stretch money a little further by buying at wholesale prices. They also need volunteers, especially during market hours.
“A lot of our volunteers that have volunteered through the market, they like seeing the regular faces,” she said. “They almost become friends. It becomes a little community. You just get to know people.”
More than 13% of Illinois residents are food insecure, including 1 in 6 children, according to Feeding America.
“There's people, literally, with full time jobs that can't afford food,” she said. “And it has moved way past that. At this point, I think everyone is deserving of getting that help if they need it. And we're not here to judge that.”
Uribe said that some of the people who showed up to shop were still waiting in line outside when the market closed.
If you’re struggling to access food, check out these resources.
You can enter your zip code into the Northern Illinois Food Bank ‘Get Groceries’ webpage.
To get help applying for SNAP benefits, call NIFB’s help line or schedule an appointment.
You can also volunteer or donate to Northern Illinois Food Bank.
- WNIJ Community Correspondent Jonathan Dumois contributed to this report.
- Note: The Northern Illinois Food Bank is an underwriter of WNIJ.
