South Carolina food banks are preparing for a major hunger cliff as thousands of households receive SNAP Benefits that ended earlier this year.
South Carolina Food Bank Prepares For The End Of SNAP (PHOTO: NBC News)
The South Carolina Food Bank
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funded South Carolina to receive $53 million per month in federal aid to fund these emergency allotments. However, South Carolina food banks are worried the state could see a huge increase in the number of people who are food insecure, including veterans due to benefits being halted earlier this year. A month before many other states in the U.S. will also end their federal nutrition benefit allotments in February.
SNAP Benefits Terminated In South Carolina
Alexandra Ashbrook, director of root causes and specific populations for the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), said that “On average, people on SNAP will be losing over $80 a month in benefits.” FRAC is a national nonprofit working to eradicate poverty-related hunger in the U.S. While food and rent are soaring high leading South Carolina food banks are concerned that this could create a huge increase in food insecurity, among people and veterans.
President and CEO of South Carolina food Bank, Nick Osbourne, said the number of people visiting food banks since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic increased even with a large number of people receiving more federal assistance. Osbourne also said that many of the people included in this increase were first-time visitors to food banks, who lost their jobs due to the pandemic and had to choose between paying for groceries or getting gas.
Furthermore, for veterans in South Carolina who for years have made up a strong percentage of people who visit LFA food distribution centers in the area, the ending of the SNAP emergency allotments could mean even less access to quality food options. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 11.1 percent of veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 live in homes reporting food insecurity.
SNAP is the number one defense mechanism against hunger in the United States, providing nine meals for every meal that a food bank gives out.
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