SNAP funding is set to expire at the end of the month, meaning 42 million Americans will go hungry. A large percentage of those on SNAP are disabled, and many won't be able to stand in a bread line.
Thank you for bringing this very important situation to our attention - there are many things to worry about in day-to-day living, food shouldn't be one of them
I agree Bob! We should be able to decide as a group that food is a basic human right. People shouldn’t have to earn it or “prove their worth” just to be able to eat.
Intentionally canceling 94 million pounds of food aid and refusing to use the USDA reserve money, using the Dems as a scapegoat to deflect the attention away from where the blame actually lies… classic structural narcissistic behavior and at the threshold if not in the bounds of at least intentional neglect, if not structural violence, democide, or political and economic eugenics.
It’s so important to build strong communities and mutual aid right now while also coming to terms with the reality of these horrific issues and especially the American history of how we got here.
I’m also learning more about indigenous history right now and how tribes on Turtle Island found ways to have an abundance of food. They experienced drought and various challenges over the centuries of course and overtime created systems of abundance.
We don’t have to live like this. The planet can provide for us all. And already does when 30-40% of our food in this country is wasted.
I work at a casino that is making money hand over fist. They couldn't print it any faster. I have knowledge of two elderly females who both work two full time jobs and are living out of their cars sleeping during the day. Half the people on my shift work two jobs and never get caught up. Work so much that they don't have time to sleepmore than a few hours if that per 24 hr period. How can we continue on like this? Wages haven't been raised in thirty years because the Republicans always vote increases in minimum wage down for the long game that we are seeing before our very eyes. No one can protest when they have to work constantly just to exist.
Thank you for sharing. It’s so important for people to understand that many snap recipients are working one or even two jobs and still can’t afford food.
That’s a systemic failure. Wages are too low and cost of living is too high.
It is so wrong to just suddenly stop food assistance for millions of people without proper warning. I hope the people responsible will be held accountable in good time.
I’ve seen so many people on Reddit claim that we can all just go to the food bank to get the turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. Where I live you have to sign up early for that, and there’s no way they’re going to have enough turkeys to pass out to everyone. Plus some of us don’t eat meat.
Someone else on Reddit insisted that the food donations to food banks would increase because snap is gone. Lol who is donating to food banks when groceries are so expensive?! The one near me used to get donations from the store- bakery items and produce the day before they expire and we could stop in every day for a couple of those items.
Then everything got expensive and those stores put up their own clearance section for those items. Plus some tech bro made a “too good to go” app where people will buy blind boxes of almost expired food. None of it makes it to the food pantry now.
Agreed. And People have no idea. Our food banks have waiting lists! But our neighbors are setting up local "freedges". Have you heard of that idea? Homeowners with heart who set up outside fridges and keep them stocked via donations from the rest of us. 💙
We had some warning, but the thing is is it doesn’t help much when there isn’t anything to save.
I’m a disabled person and normally my snap benefits run out by the middle of the month but this month I still had some left on the 20th because I have been so sick I haven’t been eating much. So yeah, I had some left when I found out we weren’t getting any more, but I had to buy more food & now they’re gone. Plus New Hampshire sent out an email warning us that the machines that processed the payments might not work on November 1 so even if we were able to save some funds we might not be able to use them.
Yesterday I was thinking that if donors could afford to reopen Muir Woods, surely they could feed our most vulnerable and today i see an opportunity for these bay area wealthy donors to do just that! https://donorbox.org/snap-fund-donate
I'm lucky. I spent my early adult life poor, so I learned how to live in poverty. I learned to cook. I learned how to be patient and jump through hoops for any help.
Now, disabled, poor again, and looking at no food assistance for the winter, I'm glad I can cook, glad I have some bags of beans, boxes of pasta, and cans of veggies in the pantry. And furious at a government that thinks it's just fine to give away money to the rich and starve the poor.
You're right! EVERYONE deserves to live. (Not shouting, just underlining your point: 'everyone deserves a life'.)
That many work so hard at so many jobs and receive a pittance is shameful. But their employers are really soulless empty shells of lookalike human beings.
The wealthy who rob employees of being paid a living wage are the real parasites. They are sitting on money that really belongs to those cheated of proper salaries and wages in the past. And now they're denying both money and food as well as medical care to millions.
We must take back control of money, assets and cash from those who have but refuse to share, and acknowledge we are one family of human beings who are all worthy of life, respect, and decent behaviour towards every single person without exception.
At the end of 2020 restaurant owners in my state ran to lobby our state government to pass a law that said if federal minimum wage went up tipped employees would not get a raise and servers would stay at $3.26 an hour.
I haven’t eaten in a restaurant since 2019, mostly because I don’t want contagious diseases, but once they did that I decided they shouldn’t profit from me at all. It’s not my job to pay their staff and I am not going to punch down by letting someone wait on me then stiffing them. That doesn’t do anything except allow the owners to profit from exploiting the waitstaff.
And it was totally unnecessary. Neoliberals had no intention of increasing federal minimum wage.
You're absolutely correct! Good for you! Everyone does something but if they first consciously think properly they will also move that smidgeon. Each smidgeon soon adds to the total we want. That's why we hammer the message until they acknowledge our point and change their bad habits.
What these very short-sighted men in charge do not see is just how they're destroying people's lives, and also the planet.
My family calls this my nonsense, but recently admitted the climate is so much worse today than it was before! We will win, in the end because we N.E.V.E.R., N.E.V.E.R., N.E.V.E.R. give up nor do we ever admit defeat.
I saw the Dalai Lama speak at a compassion conference in Seattle many years ago. He said women needed to run the world because we have a natural compassion that a lot of men don’t. He was right & I hope we get there someday.
Sadly trump has been trying since his first term to end SNAP benefits. Last time said he was getting rid of SNAP benefits going back to commodity boxes because it would benefit farmers more. Also wouldn't have people buying junk food, steak and lobster. Well I might buy my child a birthday cake on SNAP and my son is autistic with food sensitivity issues so his diet isn't the best but he will eat steak. Not sure when it became concern for everyone else what people buys with SNAP benefits. When I buy my son's birthday cake I have to scrimp on other things because my budget is so tight. Steak I am not buying the 50 dollar packages I might spend 20. Beef prices are so high now you can't even find a 20 dollar pack haven't last 3 months. He asked me what were we going to do for food for November and possibly December and January. I will have to try to buy him food out of whatever is left from his SSI benefits our only income because I can't work. Applied for disability benefits several times to be told I can work (severe chronic pain on a walker, heart condition and high blood pressure in addition to mental health issues). I was trying to get my wheels fixed on my walker but that money will have to go to food. I can't stand in lines without sitting down and unfortunately most places giving food don't offer chairs to the disabled. I honestly don't know what to do. We will all have to do our best to help the ones less fortunate. I can buy food I know several people they have zero income so it isn't an option for them
I'm disabled but blessed that I can work from home so I can handle all my special needs and I work in finance so it's 99% desk/computer work anyway. Your local county food bank is a great place to donate as is a place like the Salvation Army that runs a "soup kitchen". I wish I could volunteer as I did when I was well and it's a wonderful experience. But I can't now. I can donate money. It's really easy on a website and with a credit card. Whatever you can spare. I kept mine local with the food bank and the Salvation Army that happens to be iny town. And I couldn't do a lot, but I could do something. I hope others can as well. No one should go hungry in this country.
Many areas have a "Buy Nothing" group on Facebook that allows people to give away things they no longer need. It's usually used for household stuff and baby clothes. Some of us in my area have agreed to post food on the Buy Nothing group. The local grocery store has had some BOGO sales, so I post the extra items as well as some other things on there for those who need it. Others are purging their cupboards and donating those. It's not a lot, but it does get some food into people's hands.
Thank you for bringing this very important situation to our attention - there are many things to worry about in day-to-day living, food shouldn't be one of them
as always, Bob
I agree Bob! We should be able to decide as a group that food is a basic human right. People shouldn’t have to earn it or “prove their worth” just to be able to eat.
Not when the tax cuts are for the billionaires and it's afforded from cutting off food and medical care to do so.
Intentionally canceling 94 million pounds of food aid and refusing to use the USDA reserve money, using the Dems as a scapegoat to deflect the attention away from where the blame actually lies… classic structural narcissistic behavior and at the threshold if not in the bounds of at least intentional neglect, if not structural violence, democide, or political and economic eugenics.
It’s so important to build strong communities and mutual aid right now while also coming to terms with the reality of these horrific issues and especially the American history of how we got here.
I’m also learning more about indigenous history right now and how tribes on Turtle Island found ways to have an abundance of food. They experienced drought and various challenges over the centuries of course and overtime created systems of abundance.
We don’t have to live like this. The planet can provide for us all. And already does when 30-40% of our food in this country is wasted.
I couldn’t agree more. It won’t be easy to shift to more community based models but I think it’s going to be necessary for survival.
1 in 8 Americans depends on SNAP, many of them are children.
If this regime is willing to cancel it… no one is safe.
The more we can look out for one another and provide for one another the better.
I work at a casino that is making money hand over fist. They couldn't print it any faster. I have knowledge of two elderly females who both work two full time jobs and are living out of their cars sleeping during the day. Half the people on my shift work two jobs and never get caught up. Work so much that they don't have time to sleepmore than a few hours if that per 24 hr period. How can we continue on like this? Wages haven't been raised in thirty years because the Republicans always vote increases in minimum wage down for the long game that we are seeing before our very eyes. No one can protest when they have to work constantly just to exist.
Thank you for sharing. It’s so important for people to understand that many snap recipients are working one or even two jobs and still can’t afford food.
That’s a systemic failure. Wages are too low and cost of living is too high.
Elderly women. Calling women “feeemales” is dehumanizing and weird.
Thank you for this article. It gave me a little hope.
Thank you Kai. I tried so hard to end on a hopeful note because this is a scary time for everyone. I’m glad you found some hope in it!
It is so wrong to just suddenly stop food assistance for millions of people without proper warning. I hope the people responsible will be held accountable in good time.
It’s very wrong. People have not been given time to plan or figure out contingencies. Food banks and charities can’t scale up this fast.
They know this will cause suffering and death, and they’re doing it anyways.
I’ve seen so many people on Reddit claim that we can all just go to the food bank to get the turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. Where I live you have to sign up early for that, and there’s no way they’re going to have enough turkeys to pass out to everyone. Plus some of us don’t eat meat.
Someone else on Reddit insisted that the food donations to food banks would increase because snap is gone. Lol who is donating to food banks when groceries are so expensive?! The one near me used to get donations from the store- bakery items and produce the day before they expire and we could stop in every day for a couple of those items.
Then everything got expensive and those stores put up their own clearance section for those items. Plus some tech bro made a “too good to go” app where people will buy blind boxes of almost expired food. None of it makes it to the food pantry now.
Agreed. And People have no idea. Our food banks have waiting lists! But our neighbors are setting up local "freedges". Have you heard of that idea? Homeowners with heart who set up outside fridges and keep them stocked via donations from the rest of us. 💙
We had some warning, but the thing is is it doesn’t help much when there isn’t anything to save.
I’m a disabled person and normally my snap benefits run out by the middle of the month but this month I still had some left on the 20th because I have been so sick I haven’t been eating much. So yeah, I had some left when I found out we weren’t getting any more, but I had to buy more food & now they’re gone. Plus New Hampshire sent out an email warning us that the machines that processed the payments might not work on November 1 so even if we were able to save some funds we might not be able to use them.
Yesterday I was thinking that if donors could afford to reopen Muir Woods, surely they could feed our most vulnerable and today i see an opportunity for these bay area wealthy donors to do just that! https://donorbox.org/snap-fund-donate
Thank you for sharing! I hope some people here see it and can donate!
A lot of important suggestions, thank you!
You’re welcome! Thanks for reading!
I'm lucky. I spent my early adult life poor, so I learned how to live in poverty. I learned to cook. I learned how to be patient and jump through hoops for any help.
Now, disabled, poor again, and looking at no food assistance for the winter, I'm glad I can cook, glad I have some bags of beans, boxes of pasta, and cans of veggies in the pantry. And furious at a government that thinks it's just fine to give away money to the rich and starve the poor.
You're right! EVERYONE deserves to live. (Not shouting, just underlining your point: 'everyone deserves a life'.)
That many work so hard at so many jobs and receive a pittance is shameful. But their employers are really soulless empty shells of lookalike human beings.
The wealthy who rob employees of being paid a living wage are the real parasites. They are sitting on money that really belongs to those cheated of proper salaries and wages in the past. And now they're denying both money and food as well as medical care to millions.
We must take back control of money, assets and cash from those who have but refuse to share, and acknowledge we are one family of human beings who are all worthy of life, respect, and decent behaviour towards every single person without exception.
At the end of 2020 restaurant owners in my state ran to lobby our state government to pass a law that said if federal minimum wage went up tipped employees would not get a raise and servers would stay at $3.26 an hour.
I haven’t eaten in a restaurant since 2019, mostly because I don’t want contagious diseases, but once they did that I decided they shouldn’t profit from me at all. It’s not my job to pay their staff and I am not going to punch down by letting someone wait on me then stiffing them. That doesn’t do anything except allow the owners to profit from exploiting the waitstaff.
And it was totally unnecessary. Neoliberals had no intention of increasing federal minimum wage.
You're absolutely correct! Good for you! Everyone does something but if they first consciously think properly they will also move that smidgeon. Each smidgeon soon adds to the total we want. That's why we hammer the message until they acknowledge our point and change their bad habits.
What these very short-sighted men in charge do not see is just how they're destroying people's lives, and also the planet.
My family calls this my nonsense, but recently admitted the climate is so much worse today than it was before! We will win, in the end because we N.E.V.E.R., N.E.V.E.R., N.E.V.E.R. give up nor do we ever admit defeat.
I saw the Dalai Lama speak at a compassion conference in Seattle many years ago. He said women needed to run the world because we have a natural compassion that a lot of men don’t. He was right & I hope we get there someday.
Wise man! Probably women's brains work at a higher level than men's brains and that's why we see so clearly!
Sadly trump has been trying since his first term to end SNAP benefits. Last time said he was getting rid of SNAP benefits going back to commodity boxes because it would benefit farmers more. Also wouldn't have people buying junk food, steak and lobster. Well I might buy my child a birthday cake on SNAP and my son is autistic with food sensitivity issues so his diet isn't the best but he will eat steak. Not sure when it became concern for everyone else what people buys with SNAP benefits. When I buy my son's birthday cake I have to scrimp on other things because my budget is so tight. Steak I am not buying the 50 dollar packages I might spend 20. Beef prices are so high now you can't even find a 20 dollar pack haven't last 3 months. He asked me what were we going to do for food for November and possibly December and January. I will have to try to buy him food out of whatever is left from his SSI benefits our only income because I can't work. Applied for disability benefits several times to be told I can work (severe chronic pain on a walker, heart condition and high blood pressure in addition to mental health issues). I was trying to get my wheels fixed on my walker but that money will have to go to food. I can't stand in lines without sitting down and unfortunately most places giving food don't offer chairs to the disabled. I honestly don't know what to do. We will all have to do our best to help the ones less fortunate. I can buy food I know several people they have zero income so it isn't an option for them
This is such a remarkable list, Broadwaybabyto. Thank you so much.
I can think of one… 🥵
I'm disabled but blessed that I can work from home so I can handle all my special needs and I work in finance so it's 99% desk/computer work anyway. Your local county food bank is a great place to donate as is a place like the Salvation Army that runs a "soup kitchen". I wish I could volunteer as I did when I was well and it's a wonderful experience. But I can't now. I can donate money. It's really easy on a website and with a credit card. Whatever you can spare. I kept mine local with the food bank and the Salvation Army that happens to be iny town. And I couldn't do a lot, but I could do something. I hope others can as well. No one should go hungry in this country.
https://substack.com/@lucy456751/note/c-173539782?r=irawk&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
A touching shutdown video
Many areas have a "Buy Nothing" group on Facebook that allows people to give away things they no longer need. It's usually used for household stuff and baby clothes. Some of us in my area have agreed to post food on the Buy Nothing group. The local grocery store has had some BOGO sales, so I post the extra items as well as some other things on there for those who need it. Others are purging their cupboards and donating those. It's not a lot, but it does get some food into people's hands.
You’re kinda hot you need to get your mind off politics