This fall, the importance of public food banks in the Chesapeake Bay region was front and center amid a record-breaking 43-day government shutdown. Now, new funding from the federal and state agriculture departments will support Bay-region food banks, lifting Maryland watermen and seafood processors at the same time.
People on the Bay were hit disproportionately hard by the federal shutdown that stretched from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12, 2025. Our region encompasses Washington, D.C., several military installations, and a high number of federal workers: Virginia and Maryland have the second and third-highest number of federal employees of any state (behind only California).
About 189,000 Virginia residents weren’t receiving paychecks during the shutdown, according to the White House. In Maryland, about 189,000 were furloughed or working without pay. At the same time, SNAP Benefits (federal food stamps) ran out. In Maryland and Virginia, nearly 1.5 million people lost their food assistance, of which more than 1/3 were children. Many turned to food banks, even some military members who had never needed to rely upon food assistance before…