Thousands of already financially struggling people in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties could find their situations going from bad to worse after October 31.
The Trump Administration announced that, due to the federal government shutdown, it will suspend funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. It helps feed 42 million Americans, including more than 130,000 people in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
"SNAP is an EBT card. People can go to a grocery store, and they can buy whatever their family wants. It's a client choice type of thing," said Monica White, President and CEO of Food Share. The nonprofit agency helps feed hundreds of thousands of people annually who would otherwise go hungry in Ventura County.
"When someone goes to a pantry, they can only get the foods that are available at that time," said White.
"SNAP is the federal safety net for food insecurity. For every nine meals that SNAP provides, the food banks only provide one," said White. "So we are, in essence, the safety net for the safety net, which now has a hole in it."
As things now stand, as of midnight October 31, the federal funding for the program will end. The region’s food banks are preparing to do what they can to fill some of the gap.
"We are in a situation that we have never experienced before," said Erik Talkin, who is CEO of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. "We have a huge increase in need, but then we have much less food to give out as a result of federal cuts. We are completely pinched in the middle, and we really need to look to the community to help."
He said those helped by the SNAP program don’t fit the stereotypes held by some people.
"Often people have ideas about who are the people on food stamps," said Talkin. "Forty percent of those people are children, 22% of them are older adults. You have people on disability. So, these are the people who are suffering. It's not people sitting around their home that don't have a job."
Talkin said already-stretched-thin food banks are going to do what they can to fill the gap.
"We're digging into our reserves, and we're going to spend more money on purchasing food. However, this isn't a problem that we, as a food bank, can buy our way out of; we're not the federal government. We're just doing what we can."
White said the reality is that without the primary safety net provided by SNAP, the secondary support from food banks is really going to need community support.
"In the 60 years that SNAP benefits have been available, they've never not loaded benefits to the recipients," said White. "We're doing everything we can. The thing about the safety net under the safety net that we provide is that it doesn't stay off the ground unless everybody is pulling it tight, and that's where the community comes in."
The region’s food banks have two major messages.
The first is that if you, or someone you know, needs help because of the SNAP program freeze, you should reach out to the food banks in the region for help. In San Luis Obispo County, the SLO Food Bank is the major provider.
The second is that you can help the region’s food banks; they need your support in a way they never have before. Food donations or good, but what’s more efficient is financial donations, so the nonprofits can buy exactly what’s needed.
