SHERIDAN, Colo. — Inside the Sheridan Rec Center on Thursday, volunteers were busy packing up boxes of food, while outside a line had been forming for hours. People, many of whom are already SNAP recipients, need help feeding their families.
"SNAP dollars, which can be maybe $6 per week, don't last throughout the month. People will find themselves using SNAP so that they can pay other expenses such as their electricity bills or their housing, and still need the [food distributions] to cover food at the end of the month," said Monica Buhlig, Chief Impact Office at Food Bank of the Rockies.
Nearly 1,700 miles away from the food distribution, lawmakers in D.C. are considering making cuts and changes to how SNAP operates. A funding bill narrowly passed through the U.S. House Wednesday night.
"The most significant rollbacks to federal nutrition programs in American history," said Many Nuku, the Executive Director at Feeding Colorado, "One in 10 Coloradans receive SNAP benefits, and approximately 1.2 million Coloradans are on Medicaid. And so these are incredibly important programs to Coloradans."
Another piece of the federal funding bill proposes that States pick up more of the SNAP funding themselves. Something advocates say would reduce the amount of people who can benefit from SNAP services.
"This would be the first time in an unprecedented structural change to SNAP. Currently, SNAP is funded 100% through the federal government, and the administration of SNAP is already shared 50% from the federal government and 50% in the state budget," said Nuku, "At a time when the Colorado budget is already in a significant deficit, adding that burden on to our state government is incredibly challenging and will just mean further cuts to already existing state programs, many that were cut this last state legislative session."
According to officials at local food banks, the timing couldn't be worse.
"We have seen hunger continually rise since 2019 the rate of hunger right now, 1 in 8 people, 1 in 7 children, is the highest we've seen in over a decade," said Buhlig.
Food
How you can help Food Bank of the Rockies fight rising food cost
It's a challenging time on top of rising costs of food for everyone, including food banks. Food Bank of the Rockies reports that in 2019, they spent less than $500,000 a month on food. Now they spend an average of $1.5 million per month.
They're urging lawmakers to reconsider.
"We will be more dependent upon our communities, organizations in our communities and people giving their time and their treasure to meet the needs," said Buhlig.
If you are in need of food assistance, there are additional resources: the USDA Emergency Food Assistance Program connects low-income families with U.S. grown food, the Double Up Food Bucks program gives you dollar-for-dollar benefits back when you use your EBT card to by fresh healthy foods, and you can also click here for a list of all food banks and pantries in our state.
The state has offered the following solutions for those that may be impacted by the potential changes.
- Roll over unused SNAP benefits to the next month. Unused benefits can remain on EBT cards for up to nine months. This may help cushion the impact of the reduction in benefits.
- Stock up on non-perishable items now, while you have the additional benefits. (View tips on stocking your pantry in English or Spanish.)
- Stretch food ingredients and plan to use them in more than one meal. This helps to save money and reduce food waste. (View tips on stretching ingredients in English or Spanish.)
- Consider freezing produce to make fruit and vegetables last longer. (View tips on freezing food in English or Spanish.)
- Look at unit prices to compare similar products at the grocery store. (View tips on comparing prices in English or Spanish.)
