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Beyond Hunger: What’s Really at Stake in the SNAP Cuts
- tessmack96
- Jan 11
- 4 min read
By Jackie McDougall
Starting this month and taking full effect in January, millions across the U.S. and tens of thousands in Connecticut will be affected by the recent cuts to SNAP. The cuts to SNAP, a historic program that has supported so many during times of need across decades; will cause not just uncertainty, but cascading ripple effects across the lives of thousands of our neighbors. Critically, there are ways we can help…. Read on to see.
A Historic Legacy Interrupted
As of several weeks ago, many of us across the nation and locally have heard of SNAP. However, many of us don’t know that the SNAP program, also known as food stamps, is used by vulnerable populations throughout the country, including in Lower Fairfield County and New Canaan. The Food Stamps program was created in 1939 in a joint effort to respond to the rampant poverty of the Depression Era, and simultaneously deplete the then excess crop of the Department of Agriculture. Since the program was formalized by Lyndon Johnson in 1964, in efforts to usher an “escape from the crushing weight of poverty” for all Americans,” SNAP has helped countless residents in Connecticut. But now, the health, mental wellbeing, and basic needs of those Connecticut residents are being threatened.
A Precarious Uncertainty
While the current administration’s withholding of this November’s SNAP benefits was unsettling, the next few months will hold even more uncertainty as the SNAP cuts encoded in the Big Beautiful Bill in July are already beginning to take effect. The Bill promises to increase the age bracket for working requirements by 10 years, decrease benefits of 58,000 eligible residents on average by $194 a month, and ultimately disqualify 36,000* (Source: Department of Social Services) Connecticut residents from the program entirely. The magnanimity of this change should not be lost on us. According to DSS, SNAP is the most efficient anti-poverty program in America. Without the program’s critical support, current affected families, future affected groups, and in truth all of us, will see effects much more far reaching than hunger.
Cuts To More Than Food
Most of us have never lived at or near the poverty level, as most SNAP recipients do. Many of us never will. However right within our own backyards, including our own town, residents that were already trying to stay afloat will now face serious consequences to their health, mental health, and well-being. Families that will be cut off partially or entirely from SNAP will now face the critical struggle of deciding between electricity, heat, food, and running water. Affected children from ineligible families – because of immigration status, not meeting the new mandatory work requirement, etc. –will encounter untold obstacles such as difficulty concentrating in school, even depression among older children aware of their circumstances. SNAP recipients already struggling with hypertension, obesity, and diabetes will undoubtedly face even harsher diagnoses, and entire families nationwide may experience malnutrition, fatigue, and compromised immune function. While some of these outcomes are not yet decided, many of them will be decided by our collective response.
Meeting the Need
Connecticut residents have relied and are expected to increasingly rely on local nonprofit organizations, churches, soup kitchens, food banks, and other similar institutions for support. The number of food insecure households reliant on food banks has already risen since 2022, due to already increasing costs of living. This is a number experts expect to greatly increase, and food bank staff are already seeing this spike in need. At the state level, representatives voted to establish a $500 million relief fund to protect residences if federal support is reduced or withdrawn.This fund is intended to support vital programs like SNAP should federal funding be disrupted. Locally, food banks from Bridgeport, Norwalk to Darien to New Canaan already provide critical food support/relief at no cost, acting as a critical lifeline between increasingly dire needs and critical solutions.
How Can You Help?
According to state representatives and local food pantry leaders, there are ways the public can help.
Donations can come in many forms, but monetary donations play an important role. According to Kristina, Outreach Director at Pantry at 219 in Bridgeport, “food banks are able to stretch every dollar to create meals.” A donation of $10 a month can provide 40-60 meals.
According to Marcella Rand, Director of Human Services which runs the New Canaan Food Pantry, good things to donate to a food pantry include shelf stable products such as canned foods, dried rice, cereal, oatmeal, and sauces. Notwithstanding, she says, a food pantry is only so large: a monetary donation to a food pantry when possible, is highly valuable and allows the pantry to purchase perishables like fresh produce.
Donating your time at a food pantry can be equally helpful. At Person2Person, a nonprofit organization, CEO Nancy Coughlin urges people to donate food, money, or time.
When the Community Becomes the Safety Net
P2P was founded to tackle the racial wealth gap and income inequality, providing food assistance, clothing & care, and other resources to struggling residents across Fairfield County. Founded by St Luke’s Parish following Martin Luther King, Jr. 's death, P2P operates with a vision for Connecticut where we support our neighbors as we would support ourselves. As Kristina from Pantry at 219 reminds us, "Hunger can cause pain, but food can mean hope, thankfulness. When you give people something they wouldn’t otherwise have access to, when you help out a neighbor, you bring people joy.
References
Cather, Alexina. (2025, November 11) Op-ed: SNAP Is a Lifeline. I Know Firsthand. Civil Eats.https://civileats.com/2025/11/11/op-ed-snap-is-a-lifeline-i-know-firsthand/
Carlesso, Jenna, (2025, November 26) New federal SNAP rules mean 36K in CT still risk food insecurity. CTMirror. https://ctmirror.org/2025/11/26/ct-trump-administratiosnap-rules/
Gregory, Christina A, Reed-Jones, Madeline. 2024. Predicted prevalence of five chronic diseases increased as household food security worsened. U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Guzman, Lau. (2024, May 15). Food insecurity increases 23% in Connecticut, new study shows: ‘That’s a crisis.’ CT Insider. https://www.ctinsider.com/recordjournal/article/ct-hunger-food-insecure-meal-gap-19459443.php
IOM (Institute of Medicine) and NRC (National Research Council). 2013. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Examining the evidence to define benefit adequacy. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24901188/
Lyndon B. Johnson, Remarks at the University of Michigan Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239689
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