On Nov. 1, the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service temporarily paused the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program due to insufficient funds caused by the federal government shutdown, leaving the 30,000 Washtenaw County residents who depend on monthly food benefits reeling. During the government shutdown, which ended Wednesday, multiple local organizations and businesses took action to lessen the impact caused by the SNAP cuts. SNAP benefits have since resumed following the reopening of the federal government.
More than 51,000 Washtenaw County residents identify as food insecure, but not all have equal access to SNAP benefits, which require a specific set of eligibility requirements, taking household expenses, income and residency into account.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Mara Logan, shift manager and food access team member at Argus Farm Stop, said the shutdown emphasized the role local organizations can play in assisting the broader Ann Arbor community, even after SNAP benefits have been fully restored.
“This has really highlighted that SNAP benefits don’t bridge the gap for a lot of people,” Logan said. “I think it’d be great if they did, but I also don’t think that that’s going to change anytime super soon. So in the meantime, it is the responsibility of organizations like Argus Farm Stop, Food Gatherers and Fair Food Network to help bridge that gap the best they can.”
Prior to the government shutdown, Argus already implemented many initiatives to expand food access, including discounted weekly produce boxes and partnerships with local food distribution organizations. When SNAP benefits initially paused, Argus rolled out additional initiatives such as Round-Up at the Register, raising more than $5,200 for their Food Security Fundraiser, which provides vouchers redeemable for up to $40 on a purchase to help customers who rely on SNAP benefits.
“From Nov. 1 — which is when we started the initiatives that are currently ongoing — to now, we’ve definitely noticed an uptick in how shoppers using EBT or SNAP are taking advantage of these programs,” Logan said. “As more people who are using SNAP learn about these programs, they’re starting to utilize them more, which is fantastic. We’re seeing that our community is really engaged to support their community and our programs are offering a way to do that.”
Logan said Argus plans to continue these programs even as SNAP benefits are fully restored.
Detroit-based nonprofit Fair Food Network focuses on combating food insecurity around Michigan, and aimed to fill the gap caused by paused SNAP benefits through their participation in the Double Up Food Bucks program. The state-sponsored initiative partners with approximately 230 farmers markets and stores statewide, including Argus and the Ann Arbor Farmers Market, providing SNAP dollar users with vouchers they can spend on fresh produce.
Holly Parker, chief strategy and program officer at Fair Food Network, told The Daily that food insecurity is an issue that goes beyond political differences.
“When anyone can’t afford to buy groceries for their family, it hurts everyone, and that hunger is not a political issue,” Parker said. “I think that food and agriculture is a place where we can find common ground regardless of party orientation.”
Parker said food insecurity has the potential to cause compounding problems for affected families, which makes the work that organizations like Fair Food Network do even more important.
“Imagine having to decide, ‘Do I buy groceries for my family’s dinner or do I put gas in my car to go to my job?’” Parker said. “These are the kinds of choices that immediately become very real and very difficult for families. It’s not just that food becomes more difficult to buy, it’s that all of it destabilizes the household and the family through it, and it has these ripple effects within that household.”
Bountiful Pantries is a University of Michigan student-run organization and nonprofit aiming to provide a stigma-free approach to food access with outdoor, free-to-access 24/7 pantries located in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Metro Detroit and also served as a source of food access amid the SNAP benefit pause.
LSA sophomore Divya Thumma, internal vice president of Bountiful Pantries, said in an interview with The Daily policymakers need to be more in touch with their constituents to truly understand the impact of their policies.
“I wish that policymakers would come out and talk to the people that SNAP affects the most, just because when you’re sitting from a position of authority and a position of power, you don’t really think about the people that you’re working for,” Thumma said. “Yes, we’re in a democracy, but at the same time, these policymakers are not individually going to different counties, especially with marginalized communities and people who have a lower income. I think the real problem is that they’re coming from such a high-level perspective that they forget that these are real people, and these are real constituents that they’re working with.”
Washtenaw County was ranked as the most economically divided county in Michigan, and the 44th most divided in the United States. In an interview with The Daily, Betsey Stevenson, professor of public policy and economics, said the relative wealth of Ann Arbor often masks food insecurity, posing problems for low-income community members beyond those caused by the government shutdown.
“We often think of Ann Arbor as a wealthy community, but there is more food insecurity here than many of the students, or even many of the well-off faculty members, might see,” Stevenson said. “There’s probably a lot of people who were getting by with SNAP benefits who are not getting by now, and who don’t necessarily want to let people know they’re in that situation. Figuring out how you can help people while preserving their dignity is really important.”
Stevenson also spoke about the importance of safety nets like SNAP, even for those who are not currently using it.
“I think it’s important to realize that the typical American will rely on the safety net at some point, and that’s the reason we have a safety net,” Stevenson said. “You might find yourself getting laid off and not being prepared and not having expected it. There are a lot of people who worry about how much effort people are putting in to work and to lifting themselves. What I find is that most people are doing their best to right their own ship, and you can’t work on righting your own ship if you’re hungry.”
Daily Staff Reporter Anuttara Lath can be reached at anuttara@umich.edu.
