Food banks and pantries in Missouri are preparing for a swell in demand as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is expected to be put on ice next month.
It’s been more than three weeks since the beginning of the federal government shutdown. Congress has failed to pass a spending bill that would reopen the government, which means some federal programs, including SNAP, are being put on hold.
Employees at food banks, which collect food, and at food pantries, which distribute food, said the freeze could put a strain on their organizations, which have already seen an increase in demand this year.
“It's terrifying,” said Angela Gabel, who operates Ritenour Co-Care Food Pantry in Overland. “Let’s be real. They're asking us — a food pantry — to step in and do the job that the government would normally do.”
She said she is beefing up volunteer staff at the pantry, which operates like a grocery store where visitors can choose their own food instead of getting prepared boxes of groceries. The organization is also courting donations.
“We cannot fill the void that the federal government just left. There's no way. And yet, we will do our absolute best,” Gabel said. “I have an amazing group of volunteers. I'm going to have to ask some donors to step up. I just can't imagine turning people away in November, of all months.”
The Missouri Department of Social Services distributes SNAP benefits, which are funded by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. States and federal governments share the cost of administering the program.
In an online bulletin published earlier this week, the agency recommended recipients visit food banks and work to stretch their existing benefits into November.
Food distribution agencies such as food banks are designed to provide a small sliver of assistance for food-insecure people, said Operation Food Search President and CEO Kristen Wild.
“If we look at the food assistance that is provided under normal circumstances, without a shutdown ... food banks across the country provide about 10% of the food assistance that people receive,” she said. “Ninety percent of the food assistance that people receive is coming from SNAP and [the Women, Infants and Children program]. So to remove those, I mean, there is just no, there's no way for nonprofits to fill that gap.”
In 2024, SNAP served an average of 655,264 Missourians in more than 300,000 households monthly, according to the Missouri Budget Project, a nonprofit policy research organization. Most of those households serve children, older adults or people with disabilities.
The counties with the highest percentage of SNAP recipients are clustered in southeast Missouri.
“If the shutdown does not end, then we're going to be facing just astronomical rates of food insecurity,” Wild said.
Pantries have seen an increase in visitors since a tornado in May devastated some neighborhoods in St. Louis, she said. Rising grocery prices have also increased the need for food charities.
The shutdown began Oct. 1. Democrats and Republicans in Washington have been locked in a stalemate, with Democrats refusing to vote for a short-term funding bill.
At issue are tax credits that help self-employed people pay for health insurance on healthcare.gov. That’s the marketplace where people who don’t receive employer health benefits or who don’t have Medicaid or other government-supported plans can buy health insurance.
The program that provided the subsidies expires this year. Some lawmakers have refused to vote on a spending bill that doesn’t include an extension for the tax benefits, arguing that monthly premiums will skyrocket without the subsidies.
