Food banks in Washington are preparing for more people to need their help as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits are reduced.
Last week, Congressional Republicans approved changing how the food assistance program is administered as a part of the Trump Administration’s tax and spending legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Washington state officials believe more than 130,000 people across the state could lose their benefits as a result and that many more will see their benefits decreased.
The changes to SNAP come as food banks are struggling to keep up with rising food prices and are seeing an increase in demand for their services. Ballard Food Bank Executive Director Jen Muzia believes reducing food assistance will put more pressure on food banks.
“I'm really concerned that we're going to just see more people coming in and more people needing food,” she said.
Since the pandemic, according to Muzia, the Seattle-based food bank has seen a large jump in the number of people coming to the nonprofit for groceries. On top of that, the Ballard Food Bank has had to change what it offers to its patrons as food prices have gone up in recent years.
“We stopped buying eggs. You know the cost of inflation, the cost of eggs was so much I had to sit my team down and say ‘We can’t buy that any more,’” she said. “I used to be able to tell people that no matter what time of the day you come into shop you will see full shelves and you will get what you need, I haven’t said that in a very long time.”
In the Tacoma area, Nourish Pierce County distributes food at 22 locations. According to Nourish Pierce County Deputy Director Ken Gibson, cuts to SNAP benefits could potentially make it harder for people to come out to their food banks.
“We anticipate the lines will get longer, and people will be waiting even longer,” he said. “Waiting longer for less food.”
If a large influx of people begin coming to Nourish Pierce County for groceries that could potentially lead the organization to change how it distributes food. Gibson said the group still needs to assess its options, but there could be a wide range of impacts.
He said, “Alternating our service hours, our service days. Potentially change our service sites and locations. Maybe if we have less food that might mean that we would need to consolidate.”
Nourish Pierce County is not changing how it distributes food at this time , according to Gibson. State officials are currently reviewing the changes being made to SNAP and are working to determine when they will go into effect.
