Trump cuts to SNAP will make hungry Philadelphians hungrier

From working at our food bank, I can tell you hunger erodes every aspect of a person’s mental and physical health. Hunger affects kids’ ability to concentrate in school, exacerbates chronic health problems for seniors, and makes it impossible for families to get ahead when they are focused on not falling far behind.

For the hundreds of thousands of family members and neighbors we serve in the Greater Philadelphia area at the Share Food Program, food has never been a guarantee. Estimated living expenses in our region are around $30,000 more than the median household income for one adult with one child, and making ends meet means tremendous sacrifices. Investments like homeownership and college debt are almost out of the question, and the focus turns to survival.

Fortunately, and historically, there has been help. The most universal and effective line of defense is in the form of SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) — which leverages federal dollars to allow qualified individuals and families, including children, to buy much-needed groceries. But now, the Trump administration has threatened to freeze trillions of dollars in federal aid.

This has caused national tremors that are leaving families scared and confused, wondering if their food basics will be cut off. Meanwhile, the White House seems to be prioritizing ever more tax breaks for the nation’s ultra-wealthy.

Our country’s hunger crisis has deepened over the years. Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way.

For a few years, we made progress. In March 2020, Congress established a bipartisan emergency program to provide supplemental SNAP benefits to make sure qualified individuals and families didn’t go hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers expanded other safety nets, providing relief in the form of tax credits, emergency rental assistance, and supplemental unemployment benefits.

It worked. Health outcomes improved during 2021 and 2022. And it’s no coincidence that during that time, we also saw hunger rates dip.

These pandemic-era SNAP benefits kept more than four million people out of poverty, reduced overall poverty in states that participated in the program by more than 9.5%, and reduced child poverty in those states by 14%. In Philadelphia, around half a million individuals — more than 20% of households — are SNAP participants.

But SNAP is more than just an effective and efficient safety net, it is also a powerful economic driver. A U.S. Department of Agriculture study found that during a slow economy, such as during the pandemic, every $1 spent on new SNAP benefits results in $1.54 in increased GDP, a 54% return on investment.

But then, in 2023, the Republican-led Congress chose to let those supplemental benefits expire. Now, with food prices rising and benefits slashed, the need is at an all-time high, and millions of hardworking Americans are facing a greater struggle to feed their families. At Share alone, we’ve seen a 110% increase in people relying on our food assistance programs since the start of 2022.

Right now, every threat of a government shutdown or pause in federal aid makes this struggle all the more painful — and in many instances, life-threatening.

Toward the end of the previous Trump administration, our collective grocery carts were empty. Unless these are glory days “Make America Great Again” seeks to recreate, we must continue to invest in American farmers, grocers, and most importantly, the people struggling to get by every day.

The greatest way to pull people out of poverty — as we did in 2021 and 2022 — is to invest directly into the people themselves. Food is a human right. And hunger is solvable. So why aren’t we solving it?

George Matysik is executive director of the Philadelphia-based Share Food Program, one of the largest independent food banks in the United States.