SNAP cutoff strained Northern Nevada food banks, exposing limits

By Jaedyn Young, Reno Gazette Journal 

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada faced heavy strain during the federal food benefits cutoff and the holiday influx. Now, food banks worry future changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are going to bring more food insecurity to the state.

During the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history, millions of Americans were cut off from SNAP on Nov. 1. This included the 495,000 SNAP recipients in Nevada, according to the governor’s office.

At the time of the shutdown, food banks were bracing for an estimated 48,000 Reno-area residents to lose access to federal food benefits.

Gov. Joe Lombardo allocated roughly $38.6 million in contingency and COVID-19 relief funds to food banks statewide on Oct. 30, support that Food Bank of Northern Nevada spokesperson Jocelyn Lantrip said significantly helped.

The food bank quickly purchased and distributed large quantities of food to their partner agencies to prepare for the anticipated influx of SNAP recipients in need.

Still, like other food banks across the country, Lantrip said there was “a tremendous need.”

“Whether we had extra funding or not, we needed more food in the door,” Lantrip said. “We can’t buy enough food to replace SNAP, ever. It’s just too large of an impact.”

On Nov. 1, the food bank opened three additional mobile distribution sites. At its warehouse on Oddie Boulevard in Reno, more than 500 families showed up for boxes of food. It was similar at the other two locations.

Lantrip said the food bank is already busy, helping 160,000 people every month on average. With the increased demand, the food banks did everything they could, but Lantrip said people may have been getting a little less than normal.

Once the shutdown was lifted, Nevada reinstated SNAP benefits on Nov. 13 to nearly 216,000 households.

But Northern Nevada food banks continued to see elevated demand through the holidays. Lantrip said the loss of food benefits had a snowball effect on families in the region who were catching up on the missing income.

“We knew that even though they came back and they were funded, that it would take families a while to get back on their feet,” Lantrip said. “It takes a while to catch up.”

When the food bank held a second special distribution at Oddie Boulevard on Nov. 15 after the shutdown, it served more than 600 households.

For reference, the food bank’s mobile harvest program feeds a little more than 200 households.

“We expected it to be a little less because the shutdown was over and things were calming down. But it wasn’t. It was even more people than the first time,” Lantrip said.

Lantrip said families also have to worry about childcare during the holidays, plus extra expenses of wanting to buy gifts and other holiday expenses.

The holidays are also the busiest time of year for fundraising, food raising and volunteers, according to Lantrip, so the food banks were grateful for the extra support.

But the food banks are worried about any future SNAP cuts or changes.

Lantrip said if cuts happen, they will bring food insecurity across the state, and affect the food bank’s ability to meet the needs of the additional 77,000 people in Northern Nevada actively receiving some form of the benefits.

“Any time there’s a cut to SNAP … it is devastating,” Lantrip said.

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect