Barbara Schulz already beat cancer, but now the 67-year-old from Tucson, Arizona is preparing for another life-changing battle: surviving without her monthly SNAP, or food stamps, benefits.
That’s because the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits she uses to buy groceries each month are set to expire on November 1, a result of the ongoing government shutdown. And for people like Schulz, whose leukemia is in remission following a 2021 diagnosis, the loss of SNAP poses dire consequences (1).
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“It keeps me healthy and it keeps me alive,” Schulz told 13 News of the benefits. “I can eat an organic, plant-based diet to keep me healthy and hopefully keep me in remission.”
The former freelance paralegal noted to 13 News that her age and the “disability issues” related to the side effects from her treatment make it difficult for her to find work — all the more reason she relies on SNAP.
As such, she says she’ll just have to cope, eating smaller portions of the food that she needs to maintain her health. “I’ll have to make it last,” she said. “That’s my only choice until I can hopefully find some work.”
The ripple effect of losing SNAP benefits
Like Schulz, around 42 million Americans face losing SNAP benefits — a critical resource to feed themselves and their families. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the payout to the average SNAP recipient is approximately $187 per month, while close to 90% of the households that receive benefits make incomes that fall at or below the poverty line (2).
Joel Berg, CEO of the non-profit Hunger Free America, told NPR that most SNAP recipients “are children, working people, older Americans, veterans and people with disabilities," warning that cutting the benefits will result in “the most mass hunger suffering we’ve had in America since the Great Depression (3)."
As late as September 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture had agreed to use contingency funds — estimated at between $5 and $6 billion (4) — to help fund SNAP during the shutdown. The department has since, however, rescinded that offer, claiming on its website that “Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 1 (5).”
“It is quite something to be sitting on billions of dollars that could be used for food assistance for people who need help and to refuse to release it,” Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told PBS, while also noting that there’s a precedent for spending the contingency funds based on how previous administrations planned to use them in the event of a shutdown.
Meanwhile, a “coalition” of 25 states is fighting back via a lawsuit against the Trump administration (6), arguing that suspending SNAP benefits is “contrary to law” and will result in the “deterioration of public health and well-being” as well as “food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition, which are associated with numerous negative health outcomes in children (7).”
To that end, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani recently acknowledged that the federal government has an emergency fund that could keep SNAP benefits running and said “it’s hard for me to understand how this isn’t an emergency” (8) — leading many to believe that she might order the Trump administration to use the funds during the government shutdown.
The SNAP cuts will also likely create a ripple effect throughout the economy, affecting Americans and organizations who don’t even directly rely on the program. Stats show that SNAP recipients spend an average of $832 per month on groceries, or 20% more than non-SNAP recipients, and also “shop more frequently and visit a wider range of retailers (9).”
Those retailers include Walmart, Kroger, Sam’s Club and Dollar General — many of whom, the National Grocers Association noted, could face “reduced employee hours, perishable food losses and declining sales” as a result. The association added that, once the SNAP benefits return, “the resulting surge in demand could strain supply chains nationwide (10).”
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How to help offset the loss of SNAP
The financial fallout of the SNAP benefits lapse is wide-ranging and disruptive, from reducing the purchasing power of those who rely on the money to the disruption of the retailers and supply chains — and their employees — that could see lower profits and reduced work hours.
Then, of course, there are the health consequences facing SNAP recipients, which experts say could lead to anything from exacerbating “diet-sensitive chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and chronic kidney disease” to “increase(d) levels of depression, anxiety and stress in both parents and kids” to those who ultimately die from a lack of access to the healthy foods that they need (11).
Various states, however, are taking action to help fill the gap left by SNAP benefits. Despite warnings from the Trump administration that these states won’t be reimbursed for money spent, many states are releasing millions of dollars in relief funds for SNAP recipients and committing funds and resources to local food banks and related programs (12).
Those who need assistance, or who are looking to pitch in, can check their state’s website for information or visit Feeding America’s website, where you can find your closest food bank simply by entering your zip code.
There are also other simple ways to cut back on spending during the SNAP benefits lapse to ensure every grocery dollar goes further. Stocking up on pantry staples in bulk so that your healthy food options last longer without spoiling helps keep costs down, as does meal planning, freezing leftovers, seeking out grocery store sales and using coupons.
Shopping at farmers markets is also a great way to land fresh, healthy food at lower prices. Leaning on your community can yield some helpful cost-savings strategies, such as splitting the cost of bulk items with friends and neighbors to spread the savings even further.
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Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
13 News (1); Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (2); NPR (3); Newsweek (4); PBS (5); CBS News (6); The United States District Court For The District of Massachusetts (7); CNN (8); Numerator (9); CNBC (10); Stat News (11); NBC News (12)
This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: ‘It keeps me alive’: Arizona cancer survivor, 67, faces food stamp cutoff as SNAP funding collapses nationwide
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.