Last week, the White House announced that it would not release SNAP benefits to food insecure individuals and families in November. To be clear, this is not an inevitable result of the shutdown. It is a policy choice being made by the current administration that will result in 170,000 people in Maine going hungry. 

People like Ashley who doesn’t have other income sources to support her as she navigates health challenges. “I’m diabetic. I survive off of food stamps, I don’t have anyone that can support me, and food is important to diabetics. And it’s already bad enough because I have food allergies and ailments, and I have to spend money on food products that I can eat that won’t affect my diabetes. My funds for my food stamps are already so low that I am forced to eat gluten and dairy because it’s cheaper.” 

Every single human being deserves to have their basic needs met. Sadly, this is not the reality for many of our neighbors. At least 1 in 8 Mainers — including 1 in 5 children — do not have enough to eat. Each month, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps 170,000 Mainers and 42 million Americans put food on the table. But unless the USDA backs off this devastating stoppage of benefits, none of these families will receive any food aid in November. 

The current administration is using food insecure families and hard-working Americans as political fodder. Congress created billions of dollars in contingency reserves for use when SNAP funding is inadequate.  

“I just want to be 100% clear we are not cutting SNAP because we are shut down,” shared Congresswoman Chellie Pingree at the opening of the Preble Street Food Security Hub. “We are cutting SNAP because the administration decided not to spend the reserves at the USDA in November and to deny people their benefits. So, we have money. We don’t have to do any fancy, complicated thing that we can’t do during a shutdown. There’s $5 billion there in reserves.” 

Preble Street and our partners in anti-hunger advocacy are demanding that the USDA immediately release the $5 billion in SNAP contingency funds and allocate additional funding to avoid any reduction in November benefits. It is unacceptable for children, older adults, and families to go hungry, or for Mainers to be asked to choose between getting enough to eat and paying for housing or heath care. And, the loss of SNAP benefits isn’t the only way that lower-income families and individuals are being impacted by actions of the federal government. We must continue to fiercely demand that the USDA and White House do not ignore their responsibilities to their people.