The ongoing 36-day federal government standoff is putting $8.3 billion in monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding at risk. In Buncombe County, North Carolina, food advocates say local efforts cannot make up for the potential loss. Brittany Ebert, a substitute teacher and mother of three, is one of many residents facing food insecurity. Her family receives about $490 in SNAP benefits each month. Her husband, who works at an Ingles Markets warehouse, lost two months of income after Tropical Storm Helene flooded the facility near Black Mountain.
Ebert’s family, who also help feed two neighborhood children, now rely on nonprofit food distributions such as Bounty & Soul’s market in Swannanoa. She says that if lawmakers experienced the challenges of feeding children, they might act more quickly to resolve the funding issue. Many families are turning to local food charities, which are already under strain.
Bounty & Soul and MANNA FoodBank, two major food nonprofits in western North Carolina, report they cannot match the scale of SNAP. Joe Beckler, chief development officer at MANNA, says SNAP funds about nine times more meals than MANNA provides each month. Even if $4.65 billion in reserve SNAP funds were released, it would only cover about half of the program’s needs for one month. State-level aid, such as the $18 million announced by Governor Josh Stein, is much less than the $230 million in monthly SNAP benefits distributed statewide…