MORNING HEADLINES | The ongoing government shutdown will lead to the cessation in federal food assistance benefits starting tomorrow, leaving 560,000 South Carolinians without vital help. About half of those also have children.
Even without the shutdown, the Lowcountry was already seeing increasing food insecurity, as mentioned in an Oct. 31 report in the Charleston City Paper. The Lowcountry Food Bank (LFB), which distributed 46 million pounds of food for 33 million meals last year in the state’s 10 coastal counties. In the last year, that has gone up about 10%, according to the food bank’s CEO, Nick Osborne.
Beyond South Carolina, 42 million people — roughly 1 in 8 Americans — could see cuts or delays to food assistance as soon as Saturday if the government shutdown continues…