The state government is scrambling to assist more than 75,000 residents who use food stamps, proposing to help the New Hampshire Food Bank run 20 new mobile food pantries as a stopgap measure if the federal government shutdown cuts off the program next month.
“We are still working out the details,” said Elsy Cipriani, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank, a non-profit charity that provides food for more than 400 agencies such as food pantries. “But we are not replacing the SNAP. We don’t have the capacity to do that.”
SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is a national program that gives food assistance to lower-income individuals. Its funding could end as soon as Nov. 1 unless Congress passes a spending measure, which at the moment seems unlikely.
All states are preparing to reduce harm if SNAP funding halts. Nationally, about 42 million Americans use SNAP, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The state’s proposal, which must be approved by the legislative fiscal committee and the Executive Council, would see them partner with the food bank to open as many as 20 mobile pantries across the state twice a week for the next five weeks. These food pantries would only be for SNAP recipients.
The food bank runs other mobile pantries that would remain open. Cipriani said the food bank has also been working with its many member agencies to help people if the government shutdown doesn’t end.
SNAP recipients face another obstacle in that they might not be able to access any unused benefits on their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. “They want to consider using benefits currently on their EBT cards before October 31,” the state said in a release.
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services is still processing new SNAP applications and people are encouraged to continue to apply.
The state has also announced a contingency plan for the 13,000 people in New Hampshire who participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC. New Hampshire has secured money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue the program through at least Nov. 7, although the Community Action Program Belknap-Merrimack Counties, in Concord, would have to close on Nov. 1.
The federal shutdown began Oct. 1 when U.S. Senate Democrats refused to vote for a short-term measure to fund the government, demanding Republicans restore cuts to Mediaid and the Affordable Care Act that the Congressional Budget Office says will cost 10 million people their health insurance.
Two other nutrition assistance programs are not affected by the shutdown. The National School Breakfast and National School Lunch programs, which provide free and reduced meals to children each school day, will continue to be available for eligible families.
People on SNAP seeking more information should call their local food pantry or visit the food bank’s website at nhfoodbank.org, Cipriani suggested. Granite Staters can call 211 or visit the New Hampshire Food Bank’s Food Map for a full listing of food assistance programs.
For more information about WIC and SNAP, visit https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/food-meals-assistance/snap-and-wic-federal-shutdown-information.
