About 40,000 Coloradans have lost access to SNAP food benefits in the last year as program requirements changed, Ron Meehan, government relations manager at Feeding Colorado, said at an Oct. 14 roundtable at Food Bank of the Rockies’ warehouse in Aurora, Colorado Newsline reported. At the same event, the food bank said food insecurity is at a 12-year high.
The two figures describe the same squeeze from different sides — fewer households are getting federal grocery help, and food banks across the Denver metro area say more people are lining up at their doors, including families that never needed help before.
For households in Denver, Aurora and across the state, the timing matters. Colorado Public Radio reported that more federal work requirements and eligibility restrictions take effect in the coming weeks, which could push more people off benefits just as winter heating and holiday costs arrive.
The 12-Year Comparison and Where It Comes From
The 12-year figure is a claim by Food Bank of the Rockies, and the food bank has not published the underlying number in the coverage reviewed by Food World News. CPR attributed it to the food bank’s latest available data, and CEO Erin Pulling has described it as the highest rate of food insecurity the organization has seen in 12 years…