Canned goods on grocery store shelves. (Photo: Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
We know tables are full of food on Thanksgiving, but Ohioans are still feeling the effects of federal cuts to SNAP and food banks are still buckling under the weight of demand, so the table won’t be as full for some.
The federal government shutdown and the resulting discontinuation of existing SNAP benefits did not improve the situation. The Ohio Food Bank Association served 46% more people at the state’s food pantries from November 1 to November 21 than on average in each of the previous months this year.
“This situation has underscored the critical importance of SNAP as the first line of defense against hunger for many Ohioans, seniors and disabled families who, without SNAP support, would regularly face food budget shortfalls,” Joree Novotny, the association’s executive director, told the Capital Journal.
Even before the shutdown, the association was seeing growth in the first quarter of this year and had concerns about how it would maintain aid amid growing demand.
“While the impact of the shutdown has shed light on this issue, food insecurity was far too prevalent before the shutdown and remains far too prevalent after the shutdown,” Novotny said.
From July to September this year, the chain saw an escalate in food deliveries of 6.7% compared to the same period in 2024, 14% compared to 2023 and almost 41% compared to 2022. This included takeaway groceries, scorching meals and meals delivered at community facilities.
Food banks had to prepare for this reductions in federal contributions from the USDAwhich Novotny says they achieved by retrieving over 28 million pounds of donated food and spending 16.2 million pounds of cash donations on food. This sourcing represented 70% of all food delivered through the network.
“Typically, federal and state contributions make up about half of all food distributed through our network,” Novotny said. “This level of private purchasing is unsustainable, especially for food banks serving areas of the state struggling with philanthropy gaps and greater resource disparities.”
Pantries weren’t the only ones trying to make up for SNAP shortfalls. The Children’s Hunger Alliance has worked to combat the effects of SNAP on child hunger despite seeing declines in state funding. The alliance state’s contribution came from the governor’s proposal, which would provide $3.75 million in each of the next two years, up to $3 million in fiscal year 2026 and $2.5 million in fiscal 2027, according to the final budget.
While the alliance was able to “hold the line” on federal and state support combined with private donations, changes in childhood food insecurity According to the organization’s president, Michelle M. Brown, this will take a year or more to understand.
“SNAP disruptions during the government shutdown could continue to impact low-income families in the coming weeks and months, as many were forced to make difficult budget choices in November,” Brown said.
The leader said there are still “looming threats to federal food programs” that could put families back into the dilemma of making arduous decisions between paying bills and putting food on the table.
In 2024, Children’s Hunger Alliance served 10.8 million meals to more than 161,000 children in 76 Ohio counties, according to the alliance.
According to the latest data from Feeding America, more than 517,000 children experienced food insecurity in Ohio in 2023. Of those, 72% met the income criteria to qualify for federal food assistance programs such as SNAP.
“Child hunger is a solvable problem – it just requires public and private leadership, financial resources and communities united in the belief that every child deserves the opportunity to develop and reach their full potential,” Brown said.
The Alliance has partnered with public and private donors to launch the “Thanksgiving Meals Initiative,” providing food and gift cards to 1,900 households in central Ohio this year. The organization also expanded its Thanksgiving and Christmas weekend meal program “to ensure children across Ohio have access to nutritious meals when school is not in session.”
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