The prolonged U.S. government shutdown is putting millions of Americans at risk of missing their November food stamp benefits, a vital lifeline for low-income households.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, stated in a memo on Sunday that no benefits will be issued on Nov. 1, leaving the program’s roughly 42 million beneficiaries uncertain about how they’ll pay for groceries next month.
SNAP recipients receive an average of $187 a month on a prepaid card, and many families rely on those benefits as their main source of money for food. Many of those registered with the program are asking if they will still be able to use the remaining dollars on their cards once funding is suspended and if they’ll receive their November benefits retroactively, should lawmakers reach a deal to reopen the government.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/food-stamps-snap-benefits-november-2025-government-shutdown/
Food bank staff expect a wave of new demand as millions of Americans are set to lose federal food assistance in November. But they insist that their services alone won’t be enough to feed everyone who relies on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Feed My People Food Bank in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has been preparing for a freeze of federal food benefits since the start of the government shutdown on Oct. 1.
Padraig Gallagher, the food bank’s executive director, told his team to source as much food as possible, just in case the shutdown dragged on long enough to affect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which more than 10% of Americans use.
https://www.kcur.org/environment-agriculture/2025-10-29/snap-benefits-food-hunger