How Bucks County families are impacted by SNAP cuts, and how you can help this week
When the Public Health Emergency declared due to COVID-19 ended in May, the amount of assistance that some federal public safety net programs were providing returned to their pre-pandemic levels.
Families who received higher SNAP, formerly called food stamps, allotments during the economic shutdown caused by COVID-19 are seeing their benefits reduced to pre-pandemic levels. The average household on SNAP received a $95 per month bump in their benefits, but that extra assistance is no longer available.
This is a major pain point for Sarah. She’s 55 years old and suffers from severe arthritis, but she rides her bike to her local food pantry each week to get food for herself and her 16-year-old granddaughter, for whom she is the sole caretaker. Her food stamps were cut when the COVID emergency was lifted.
“I was doing fine with the additional SNAP assistance. Now, without your pantry – which is close enough for me to reach by bike – my granddaughter and I would not have enough to eat,” she says.
More: United Way will pack millionth meal to fight hunger in Bucks County campaign
More: Feds stopped sending additional SNAP aid to needy families; what that means for Bucks County
More: United Way of Bucks County looks to 'Knock Out Hunger' with annual fund drive, packing event
According to Feeding America, the average cost of a meal in Bucks County is $4.08. At that price, the average SNAP household must find ways to make up for the shortfall of 23 meals each month.
What’s not returning to normal is the rate of inflation. At the same time as families are losing those higher SNAP benefits, their remaining food budgets buy even less because of rising food prices.
The US Department of Agriculture forecasts that, “Food prices are expected to grow more slowly in 2023 than in 2022 but still at above historical-average rates. In 2023, all food prices are predicted to increase 6.2 percent.” That’s three times the national historic average annual increase of 2%, according to the USDA.
Together, the SNAP cuts and rising prices are creating a “perfect storm” for food-insecure families on SNAP.
Sheri Ratner, who manages United Way of Bucks County’s programs at the HELP Center in Bristol, hears frequently about the impact of these cuts – especially from seniors and people with kinship care responsibilities.
“We saw the impact of SNAP cuts almost immediately at our food pantry,” says Ratner. “Families are running out of food earlier in the month, and some that used to get by coming to the pantry once a month are now coming two or three times.”
Tim Philpot, who coordinates United Way of Bucks County’s Bucks Knocks Out Hunger campaign, is hoping that this year’s campaign will be particularly successful.
“There are a lot of people who rely on BKO Hunger to help fill gaps in what our food system can offer,” says Philpot, “and those gaps are getting wider. We need everyone’s help if we’re going to fill them.”
How to help Friday: United Way will pack millionth meal to fight hunger in Bucks County campaign
United Way’s Bucks Knocks Out Hunger campaign is underway and will culminate with a meal-packing event on June 16th at Neshaminy Mall.
Through the campaign, the organization hopes to pack 100,000 shelf-stable, nutrient-rich meals and raise $100,000 to support local hunger relief programs.
Individual donations can be made online at www.uwbucks.org/bkohunger or by mailing a check to United Way of Bucks County at 413 Hood Boulevard, Fairless Hills, PA 19030. Please write BKO Hunger in the memo line.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: United Way Bucks Knocks Out Hunger 2023 tackles food insecurity
