FOOD cargoshippingtimes 10/29/2025 0 Comments

Hunger is on the rise as millions stand to lose food aid during the lockdown

Michaela Thompson, an unemployed mother in the San Fernando Valley, relies on federal aid to provide the special infant formula her 15-month-old daughter needs because of a feeding disorder. At $47 for a five-day supply, it’s out of her reach.

But with the federal shutdown preventing future payments of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits — formerly known as food stamps — Thompson said she doesn’t know how to fill her daughter’s bottles.

“It feels like the world is kind of falling apart right now,” she said. “I fear for my family and my daughter.”

Millions of low-income families who rely on SNAP benefits to put food on the table in California and across the country — about 1 in 8 Americans — face similar fears this week, as federal and state officials warn that November funds will not be released without a decision on the federal shutdown and Congress showing no sign of progress.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and State Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced Tuesday that California is joining other Democratic-led states in using potential funds with the Trump administration to force SNAP payments, but the case — even if successful — won’t clear all obstacles.

It’s already too late for the 5.5 million Californians — including 2 million children — who rely on similar benefits to get them in time to buy groceries after Friday, when most will have already used up their October benefits, state officials said. Advocates warned of a tidal wave of need as home pantries and CalFresh cards run empty — which they said is no longer a risk but a certainty.

“We’re past the point where it’s possible to stop harm,” said Andrew Schein, director of public policy at End Child Poverty California.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 41.7 million Americans were served through SNAP each month in fiscal year 2024, at an annual cost of nearly $100 billion.

State officials, local governments and nonprofits are trying to get the word out to families and return millions of dollars in emergency funding to stock more food at local food banks or load up gift cards for needy families, but many say the capacity to respond is inadequate — and trying to flood the need.

“People don’t really understand the scale and magnitude of what’s going on and it’s going to hurt the economy and people just to meet their basic needs,” said Angela F. Williams, president and CEO of USA.

Already, United Way has seen an increase in calls to its 211 centers from people looking for groceries, utility bills and rent, Williams said. “There’s a serious crisis that’s been brewing for a while, and it’s reaching fever pitch.”

Cheyenne said many families are well aware of the barrier to help and are rushing to prepare, including going to state banks for food. Newsom activated the National Guard in California to help manage the outbreak.

However, Cheyenne said many others will probably find out about the disorder while standing at the grocery store checkout.

“We’re anticipating a huge increase in people who are very upset to find that they’ve actually shopped, and the groceries are in their cart, and their kids are probably with them, and then they go to checkout, and then it’s, ‘Deal declined: insufficient funds.’

Children and the elderly — who make up more than 63% of SNAP recipients in California — going hungry across America is a serious political spectacle that politicians from both parties have worked hard to prevent in the past, including during the previous government shutdown. But this time around, they seem resigned to that conclusion.

A child is standing in line behind a woman.

Republicans and Democrats have been unable to reach an agreement on the budget impasse as Democrats battle Republicans over their decision to cut health care subsidies for millions of Americans. With the nearly month-long shutdown not over, federal workers who are either furloughed or working without pay — including many in California — are facing financial strain and are increasingly showing up at food pantries, officials said.

The flood of SNAP recipients will only add to the lines, and some food leaders are becoming increasingly concerned about security at these facilities if they are overwhelmed by need.

finger gesture

In a statement posted on its website Monday, the Department of Agriculture wrote that Senate Democrats have repeatedly voted not to restore SNAP funds by approving short-term Republican spending.

“Bottom line, the well is dry,” he said. “We are nearing an inflection point for Senate Democrats.”

The Trump administration said Friday that it cannot legally dip into emergency funds to continue paying for SNAP through November, even as it uses unconventional means to cover the salaries of active-duty military and federal law enforcement.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson walks through the Capitol.

The agency has used tariff revenue to temporarily fund the Women, Infants and Child Nutrition Program, which serves about 6.7 million women and children nationally, although it is unclear how long that will last. The California Department of Public Health said the state’s WIC program, which helps about half of all babies born in California, “must remain fully operational through Nov. 30, subject to any unforeseen changes.”

On Capitol Hill, negotiations to end the shutdown have largely stalled. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) again refused to call House members back into session this week, drawing criticism from Democrats and some Republicans who want to negotiate a deal to reopen the government. In the Senate, negotiations have stalled.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have consistently blasted President Trump and his administration for food aid, as they have blamed the president for the shutdown as a whole.

“Donald Trump has the power to make sure 40 million people don’t go hungry during the shutdown. But he wants to inflict the most pain on the people who can least afford it. He won’t fund food. But he’s happy to build a golden ballroom.” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote Monday in X.

Schiff was referring to the $250 million ballroom that Trump had planned for the White House, which he recently moved by demolishing the East Wing.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), in a statement, accused Trump of “needless cruelty” for allowing the loss of SNAP benefits.

State and local responses

States have responded to the decline in a variety of ways. Some have pledged to replenish SNAP funding from their coffers, though federal officials have warned they won’t be paid.

Newsom has deployed the National Guard and sent $80 million to California food banks but has made no commitment to directly supplement lost SNAP benefits with state dollars — despite advocacy groups calling for him to do so.

On Friday, dozens of organizations wrote a letter to Newsom and other state officials estimating the total funding shortfall for November at about $1.1 billion, and calling on them to use state funds to cover the full amount to avoid a “crisis of unbearable magnitude.”

Announcing the state’s lawsuit Tuesday, Bonta said the USDA is using the shutdown as a “scapegoat” to unnecessarily and illegally freeze SNAP payments despite the $6 billion in emergency funding that must continue during SNAP funding disruptions.

“They are playing politics while Americans are hungry,” Bonta said, noting that the lawsuit seeks immediate, emergency relief.

Newsom said SNAP benefits have never been disrupted during past federal shutdowns thanks to emergency funds, and that Trump and his administration’s refusal to use those funds now was “cruel, period.”

“These guys need to stop the BS in Washington,” he said.

The White House referred questions about the case to the Office of Management and Budget. An official there declined to comment directly on the lawsuit but blamed Democrats for shutting down the government despite “knowing full well that SNAP would soon run out of funds” and using hungry American families as “pawns.”

Carlos Marquez III, executive director of the County Welfare Directors Assn. of California, said counties and other local agencies are responding in a number of ways, including taking stakes in local food banks and looking for ways to send local funds — and finding matching dollars — directly to replenish lost SNAP benefits.

Los Angeles County, which has about 1.5 million SNAP recipients, has already approved spending $10 million to support local food banks, earmarked an additional $2 million for guidance to its Department of Children and Family Services, and its partners who provide regular care plans to SNAP recipients have committed an additional $5 million.

He said his group has urged Newsom to declare a state of emergency nationwide, which would help equalize the response across the country and allow mutual aid agreements between rich and poor regions.

He said his group is also asking the state to start using school lunch programs to direct families to extra meals for young children at home, and to work with local senior care facilities to make sure SNAP recipients are also helped.

What comes next?

Williams, of United Way, said the organization’s local chapters are “looking for partners on the ground” to provide additional support going forward, as the needs will continue to grow.

“It seems like the needs are increasing every day, and I’m concerned, honestly, not just about the economic toll it’s taking on individuals, I’m concerned about the mental health and emotional toll it’s taking on people,” Williams said. Williams said. “My hope is that people from all sectors will step up and say, ‘How can we be good neighbors?’

On Friday, National Guard soldiers began a 30-day deployment at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, where they sort produce and pack food boxes. Because of “tremendous concern” in the community about the military’s role in Trump’s immigration crisis, the troops will work in warehouses and not have direct contact with the public, Executive Director Michael Flood said.

Flood said there has already been an uptick in demand from furloughed federal workers in Los Angeles, but he expects demand to increase markedly on Saturday, and to build distribution capacity similar to what was in place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — which seems odd, considering “this is a man-made disaster.

“It shouldn’t have happened,” Flood said. “People in DC can stop this from happening.”

Jocelyn D. Jess Cano, a single mother of a 4-year-old in East Los Angeles, depends on her $546 a month in CalFresh benefits to cover the ever-increasing cost of food. She said she’s looking for stable work, but it’s hard to find — and she won’t have a way to pay for food if her benefits don’t show up next week.

“For me it’s stressful, and it worries me because kids don’t know if you have it or not,” she said. “They just say, ‘Oh, give me a cookie or buy this bread.’

https://www.latimes.com/