Employees directing people through the Faith Fellowship food pantry. (Photo: Nick Evans, Ohio Capital Journal.)
Grocery stores in Ohio saw a surge in demand on Monday after the Trump administration cut federal food aid. One person said the strained resources might not be enough and appealed for donations.
Meanwhile, several statewide Republicans refused to call on President Donald Trump to speed up the delivery of benefits after two federal judges ruled on Friday that Trump not only had the authority to do so, but also the obligation.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, was eliminated during the five-week government shutdown.
Republicans don’t have the votes to fund the government, and Democrats are demanding an expansion of subsidies to purchase health care on exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.
Without an extension, the 24 million Americans who get such insurance will see theirs contributions more than doubled on average after January 1 – reports KFF, a non-profit organization dealing with health analysis.
During the partial shutdown, the Trump administration said it would not dip into reserves to maintain SNAP funding, as previous administrations did during previous shutdowns.
At $186 per month, the average individual SNAP benefit for the 1.45 million Ohioans who receive it may not seem like much.
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But when you consider that nearly 40% of recipients are under 18 years elderly and a family of three cannot earn more than $34,645 a year to qualify, the loss of such assistance is potentially devastating.
The Trump administration claimed it could not legally maintain funding for the program during the suspension.
But judges in two federal jurisdictions said Friday that this was not true and that he was legally obligated to do so.
On Monday, the Trump administration said it would pay only half the normal benefit in November and that’s it it is unclear when these payments will be made.
The effects are already being felt in the food pantry at Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, said Kathy Kelly-Long, its director.
“We are crazy busy,” she said Monday. “In the spring, we served 55 families a day. In August and September, that number increased to 65 as food prices continue to rise. Last week, we averaged over 80 families a day, but our food supply did not increase significantly.”
There have been efforts at the state and local levels to fill these gaps.
Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order on Friday 25 million dollars state food assistance funds, and Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services announced that corporate, philanthropic and government entities raised $600,000 to assist the hungry there.
However, these amounts pale in comparison to the hundreds of millions in monthly SNAP benefits that the federal government has provided to date.
“For every meal we provide, SNAP can provide up to nine meals,” Matt Habash, president and CEO of Mid-Ohio Foodbank, said Monday at a news conference in Columbus.
“We will do everything we can, but we know we cannot completely make up the difference. Food banks are already stretched thin.”
He described the suffering that losing benefits could cause.
“We are preparing for a level of need that we have never seen before,” Habash said.
“Without SNAP, more children will go to school without breakfast. Seniors and people with disabilities will be forced to prepare meals from cheap staples like plain rice or pasta, or nothing, indefinitely.”
It appears that the Franklin County Health Department has no answers for its customers.
“The federal government has notified Ohio that due to the ongoing government shutdown, SNAP beneficiaries may not receive November benefits on their normal schedule.” his website he said.
“We encourage residents and families to plan ahead as best we can. We will provide further information as the federal government provides updates.”
On Monday, volunteers at the Broad Street food pantry in Columbus questioned people about what prompted them to come.
“Most said there was no SNAP program and food was too expensive,” Kelly-Long said.
Where the pantry typically served 10-15% of recent families on a given morning, that number has increased to about 25% over the past week, she added.
“It’s an indicator that things have changed,” Kelly-Long said. “The people who were doing well now are not.”
She also explained who SNAP recipients are in Ohio.
Some may try to downplay the crisis by calling recipients freeloaders.
However, last year, 62% of Ohio State participants came from families with children, more than 43% from families with elderly or disabled people and more than 35% from working families, according to data Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.
Kelly-Long said neighbors are stepping up in the face of insecurity.
“We have received many calls from people and organizations asking how we can help? Can we organize a food drive? What can we do?” she said. “There was a beautiful response.”
She added that she was unsure how to respond.
The holidays are approaching and things like stuffing, cornbread mix, and canned sweet potatoes are usually out of stock in the pantry, and people are going to want them.
At the same time, you always need staples in your pantry, such as pasta, peanut butter, rice, and canned tuna.
“If people donate these things, it allows me to take the money and spend it on things that aren’t easy to donate, like milk, meat and eggs,” Kelly-Long said.
The Mid-Ohio Food Collective said it is appealing to local governments and corporations for massive donations.
To individuals, he said: “We need you to donate and volunteer. Visit mofc.org to learn how. If you can’t give money, food or time, you can vote. Call us at the food bank or connect with us on social media to share your food aid story. Together we can make our voices heard.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, both Republicans, signed a Republican bill last week that would fund SNAP during shutdown.
State Attorney General Dave Yost led 18 Republican attorneys general in writing a letter calling on Democrats to fund food assistance by eliminating health care subsidies.
And all this while Trump continued to claim he couldn’t legally fund SNAP.
Now that two federal judges have said they can and must, Ohio Republican spokesmen are not directly answering questions about whether they would call the president to do so.
Capital Journal reporter Megan Henry contributed to this report.
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