SNAP

DoorDash Expands SNAP/EBT Grocery Delivery to 2,700 Kroger Stores

Mon, 04 May 2026 11:27:45 GMT

DoorDash says it has expanded its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Electronic Benefit Transfer payment capabilities on the DoorDash Marketplace to nearly 2,700 Kroger stores, including banners such as Mariano’s, Fred Meyer and Ralphs.

DoorDash says with this launch, millions of SNAP-eligible consumers can now shop online for fresh groceries and more from Kroger stores and have them delivered through DoorDash, which helps expand access to affordable food.

SNAP consumers can use their benefits to purchase eligible items, including produce, meat, dairy, frozen foods and other essentials, via the DoorDash Marketplace. DoorDash says it will also offer $0 delivery fees for a limited time on the first order from the Kroger family of brands when consumers pay with an EBT card.

The company says that with the addition of Kroger, now more than 4.5 million consumers have added their SNAP card to DoorDash, and the platform includes more than 57,000 stores that accept SNAP and EBT payments.

“Access to affordable food is fundamental,” says Mike Goldblatt, vice president of enterprise partnerships at DoorDash. “This collaboration with Kroger marks an important step forward for SNAP access nationwide. Together, we’re helping millions of consumers shop more conveniently for the groceries their households rely on every day.”

DoorDash and Family Dollar Expand Nationwide SNAP/EBT Payment Access

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 19:25:08 GMT

DoorDash and Family Dollar say all eligible Family Dollar stores on the DoorDash Marketplace now accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Electronic Benefit Transfer payments for SNAP-eligible items.

Consumers can use SNAP benefits to order on-demand delivery of eligible grocery items and essentials from Family Dollar locations on DoorDash in 48 states and Washington, D.C. DoorDash says this expanded offering bolsters its network of more than 50,000 stores that accept SNAP/EBT on its marketplace.

“Our partnership with DoorDash to enable SNAP/EBT payments nationwide is an important step in removing barriers for our customers and expands how and where we serve them, bringing greater flexibility, convenience and speed to the shopping experience,” says Chris Hooks, president and chief commercial officer of Family Dollar. “It’s another step forward in how we continue to evolve to meet the needs of today’s customer.”

DoorDash says that, in a recent report, 43% of surveyed SNAP/EBT users on DoorDash said they ordered grocery or convenience items on DoorDash due to difficulty accessing transportation to the store, and nearly 1 in 4 cited health or mobility challenges that make it hard to shop in person.

“Our recent research shows SNAP users on DoorDash are twice as likely to live in food deserts than non-SNAP users, underscoring the role on-demand grocery delivery can play in bridging geographic barriers to food access,” says Mike Goldblatt, vice president of enterprise partnerships for DoorDash. “With SNAP/EBT now available at Family Dollar on DoorDash, more families can access the essentials they need at everyday low prices.”

Grocery Stores Face New USDA Nutrition Requirements to Accept SNAP

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 20:20:00 GMT

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has announced the Stocking Standards final rule, which will double the healthy food that the 250,000 retailers authorized to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits will be required to stock. As part of the standards, retailers must stock 28 varieties of healthy options across four staple food programs.

Rollins noted in a press conference Wednesday that this rule delivers on Section 402 of the 2014 farm bill. She also says this policy is intended to create a direct benefit for farmers and ranchers by incentivizing the purchase of whole foods.

“No longer if you accept SNAP dollars will jelly count as a fruit, will jerky count as a protein, starting almost immediately,” Rollins says. “They have to stock more than double the healthy options that they’re currently being required to stock.”

Rollins says this list will prioritize whole nutrient-dense foods such as vegetables, fruits, protein, dairy and whole grains.

“The current standards ... only require our retailers, almost 250,000 retailers across the country, to stock the very minimum of healthy foods,” she says.

Rollins, who was joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and USDA national adviser for nutrition, health and housing Ben Carson, also announced the launch of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Strategic Partnerships, which will involve the private sector in public education regarding the guidelines’ role as a framework for healthy eating.

“Partners will span various sectors including grocery retailers, health professional associations, health care corporations, food manufacturers, agricultural producers and media outlets,” Rollins says.

While Rollins provided the technical details of the current standards rule, Carson shared the impact these stocking standards could have on SNAP recipients.

“We can make all kinds of rules and regulations and recommendations, but it’s the people who are on the front line — the retailers, the people who actually are in contact with the consumers — who can make a big difference,” he says.

Rollins says USDA will also issue updated guidelines for retailers and families that participate in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program and will work with Kennedy to develop a proposed school meals rule.

Rollins also signed four new SNAP restriction waivers for Kansas, Nevada, Ohio and Wyoming.

No Pulled Punches: Mike Tyson, Federal Leaders Target Processed Food in New Dietary Guidelines

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 22:42:22 GMT

At a Feb. 11 press conference about the implementation of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins framed the new guidance around a simple directive: Eat real food.

With speakers ranging from physicians and chefs to military leaders, prison officials and former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, the event positions fresh, minimally processed foods — including fruits, vegetables, seafood and whole proteins — as central to reversing what Kennedy calls “the defining health crisis of our time.”

A Shift Toward Whole Foods

Calley Means, a senior adviser to Kennedy, opened the event by criticizing decades of federal policy that he says steered dollars toward highly processed foods through programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and school meals.

“We must get to whole food,” he says, arguing that chronic disease and rising health care costs are tied to the modern American diet.

Joe Gebbia, U.S. chief design officer, says the new food pyramid flips the script, placing “high-quality protein, dairy, healthy fats, vibrant vegetables and fruits” at the forefront, with whole grains as the foundation and “highly processed junk” clearly identified.

That message was echoed repeatedly: Nutrient-dense, minimally processed foods, such as fresh produce, are no longer peripheral recommendations but rather are central to federal guidance.

Pictured is American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala.

(Screenshot via Dietary Guidelines for Americans press conference)

‘Food Is Medicine’

American Medical Association President Bobby Mukkamala connects the new guidelines directly to prevention.

“Choosing protein-rich whole foods while limiting heavily processed foods that are high in sodium and added sugar can help slow or reverse our nation’s growing chronic disease burden,” he says.

He calls the guidelines “a conversation starter and a call to action” and emphasizes the growing movement within medicine to recognize that “food is medicine.”

For the produce industry, the remarks reinforce an expanding role for fruits and vegetables not just in dietary advice but also in clinical conversations, public health strategy and federal procurement.

Pictured is chef Andrew Gruel.

(Screenshot via Dietary Guidelines for Americans press conference)

Chefs Champion Accessibility and American Agriculture

Chef Andrew Gruel underscored that real food is not only healthier but also affordable and widely available. He described a full day of meals built around eggs, fruit, vegetables, seafood and whole cuts of meat that he says could be prepared for $15 to $20 per day.

“Real food is wholesome food. Food is nutritious food. It’s also sustainable food,” he says, adding that the U.S. food supply chain — including produce, ranching and seafood — is “the best of any other country in the world.”

His comments place farmers, ranchers and produce providers at the center of the health conversation.

Mike Tyson speaks at the Dietary Guidelines for Americans press conference.

(Screenshot via Dietary Guidelines for Americans press conference)

Boxing Legend’s Personal Testimony

Tyson provided one of the event’s most emotional moments, speaking candidly about his past struggles with obesity and self-image.

“I was so fat and nasty, I would eat anything. I was like 345 pounds — a quart of ice cream every hour. I had so much self-hate when I was like that, I just wanted to kill myself,” he says.

Tyson connects his transformation to dietary change and sharply criticizes the role of processed foods in the U.S. food system.

“We’re the most powerful country in the world, and we have the most obese, fudgy people,” he says. “Something has to be done about processed food in this country.”

Tyson’s appearance, along with a campaign that aired during the Super Bowl , “Processed food kills. Eat Real Food,” was positioned as a cultural push to normalize fresh, whole ingredients over packaged, ultraprocessed products.

Federal Procurement as a Market Driver

Rollins emphasizes that USDA’s scale gives it leverage to shift demand.

“Every day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture spends almost $400 million on our 16 nutrition programs,” she says, calling that spending “a market mover.”

She points to 18 approved state SNAP waivers removing soda and junk food from eligibility and says updated stocking standards will require retailers accepting SNAP benefits to expand healthy offerings.

Rollins also announced new guidance encouraging child nutrition program leaders to incorporate the updated dietary recommendations, with a proposed school meals rule expected this spring.

Kennedy says the administration is “redirecting government procurement dollars toward American farmers and not junk food manufacturers,” adding that the guidelines will influence food served in schools, the military, prisons and other federal institutions.

Beyond Schools: Military and Prisons

Military and correctional facility leaders shared how nutrition changes are already underway.

Army Undersecretary Mike Obadal says the military branch is increasing access to “lean proteins and complex carbohydrates” and streamlining procurement of “local unprocessed foods” and “fresh American seafoods and produce.”

Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall says dietary reform aligns with safety and rehabilitation goals, citing research linking improved diet quality to reductions in aggression and disciplinary infractions.

For produce suppliers, these institutional shifts represent potential long-term demand growth across large-volume federal channels.

Cultural Reset

Kennedy frames the guidelines as a turning point.

“For the first time in our nation’s history, the federal government put real food at the center of the American diet and protein in the center of the American plate,” he says.

Rollins distills the message further: “Eat real food.”

For the fresh produce industry, the rollout signals more than a revised pyramid. It suggests an alignment of federal policy, medical advocacy, cultural messaging and procurement dollars around whole fruits, vegetables and minimally processed foods — positioning fresh as foundational to national health strategy through 2030 and beyond.

What’s the Future of the Produce Department? A Fresh Del Monte Exec Talks Vision, Strategy, New Acquisition

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 01:15:43 GMT

It’s been a promising start to the year for the Coral Gables, Fla.-based Fresh Del Monte, with the newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans placing a strong emphasis on fruits and vegetables, and the company’s recently won bid to acquire assets from the California-based Del Monte Foods Corporation.

To learn how Fresh Del Monte sees the new food pyramid influencing the fresh produce department at retail and what its pending acquisition of Del Monte assets could mean for the fresh produce company, The Packer connected with Danny Dumas, senior vice president of sales, marketing and product management for Fresh Del Monte.

The new guidelines place produce and proteins at the widest part of the inverted pyramid, signaling they should be the foundation of every meal. How does Fresh Del Monte plan to adjust its marketing or product mix to address this shift? Are you planning on new products or packaging as a result?

Dumas: The updated guidelines reinforce a direction we’re already moving toward. At Fresh Del Monte, we see this less as a pivot and more as an acceleration.

From a marketing standpoint, we expect to place greater emphasis on how fresh produce anchors everyday meals by highlighting vegetables and fruits as meal builders, not just ingredients.

On the product side, we’re continually evaluating how packaging, formats and assortments can make it easier for consumers to meet these expectations. That includes portion-appropriate packaging and formats that support convenience without compromising freshness or quality.

Danny Dumas is senior vice president of sales, marketing and product management for Fresh Del Monte.

(Photo courtesy of Fresh Del Monte)

With the 2026 guidelines recommending three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit daily for a 2,000-calorie diet, do you anticipate this influencing how produce departments are merchandised or the product mix in-store?

Yes, we expect this to influence how produce departments are merchandised. Clear, numerical guidance gives retailers a stronger foundation to rethink layout, signage and cross-merchandising. We anticipate seeing produce departments organized more intentionally around daily eating patterns, for example, vegetables grouped by meal occasion or usage rather than just by category.

Over time, this may also influence the mix on-shelf, with more space dedicated to everyday staples, versatile vegetables and high-rotation fruits that support repeat consumption rather than occasional purchase.

The MAHA initiative also emphasizes food as medicine and nutrient density. Some in the produce industry are concerned the “food as medicine” messaging takes away from the flavor, joy and vibrancy of fresh fruits and vegetables. Where does Fresh Del Monte stand?

We support the idea that food plays a critical role in long-term health, but we don’t believe that it has to come at the expense of joy, flavor or experience. Fresh fruits and vegetables are powerful precisely because they are both nourishing and enjoyable. This is clear from our mission statement: to inspire healthy lifestyles by providing wholesome and convenient products to everyone, everywhere.

We focus on growing and delivering produce at peak quality because when food tastes better, people eat more of it.

How can the fresh produce industry use the new guidelines to drive increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables?

Increased consumption won’t come from telling people to eat more produce but by making produce easier to choose, easier to use and easier to enjoy every single day.

As an industry, we must reduce friction at every step of the journey — from discovery to preparation to consumption. Shoppers should feel confident selecting produce, inspired by how to use it and rewarded by how it tastes. When fruits and vegetables feel approachable, intuitive and consistently satisfying, they become diet staples.

The industry’s role, then, is to simplify decision-making, spark inspiration and remove barriers — not through more messaging alone, but through better experiences in-store, at home and at the table.

SNAP benefits don’t currently include value-added produce such as precut items or salads that come with a fork. What is Fresh Del Monte’s position, and do you think this will remain the case moving forward?

If fresh produce is truly the foundation of the diet, then formats that make it easier to consume, including certain value-added options, should be available for all.

While policy decisions sit outside our control, we have made progress but believe there’s room for thoughtful evolution here. The long-term goal should be to remove barriers to fresh produce consumption, especially for households balancing time, cost and nutrition.

Earlier this month, Fresh Del Monte Produce won a bid to acquire select assets of the California-based Del Monte Foods Corporation for $285 million. If the sale hearing, scheduled for Jan. 28 closes, the transaction will bring the Del Monte brand under a single owner for the first time in nearly four decades. How would the acquisition further support Fresh Del Monte’s abilities to reach consumers with new food pyramid-friendly foods?

The potential purchase of Del Monte Foods’ assets allows us even more ways to offer consumers quality fruits and vegetables in a convenient way. It expands our portfolio of produce, adding prepared and packed vegetables and refrigerated fruit.

Ultimately, it helps us deliver high-quality fruits and vegetables, consistently and at scale, in ways that align with how people are being encouraged to eat now and in the future.

USDA Must Give States More Time to Implement New Food Aid Restrictions, Judge Rules

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 14:35:21 GMT

A federal judge on Monday ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to extend a deadline for states to implement new immigration-related eligibility restrictions on food aid benefits, allowing them to avoid potentially severe financial penalties for failing to do so in time.

U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai in Eugene, Ore., at the behest of a group of Democratic-led states, issued an injunction requiring the USDA to extend the expiration date of a grace period for the states to comply with the new restrictions on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from Nov. 1 to April 9.

The judge, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, said guidance USDA issued on Oct. 31 concerning who is eligible for the SNAP benefits, or food stamps, contributed to “confusion” that impeded states’ ability to implement the new restrictions.

The guidance interpreted a provision in Trump’s tax cuts and domestic policy law that restricts SNAP benefits to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders, aligning with the president’s hardline immigration stance.

Guidance Sparks Legal Challenge

Attorneys general from 21 states and the District of Columbia in a lawsuit filed last month had said the guidance unlawfully deemed permanent residents who were initially granted asylum or admitted as refugees to the U.S. as ineligible for SNAP benefits.

USDA contended it never intended for its guidance to go beyond the new immigration-related eligibility restrictions set forth in the law, and a lawyer for the Justice Department on Monday said that reflected a “misunderstanding” by the states.

USDA revised its guidance last week, which Kasubhai said corrected what he said had been a policy on ineligibility that was contrary to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed into law in July.

But USDA continued to stand firm on a related issue raised by the states, which administer the benefits on a day-to-day basis, of when a 120-day grace period for them to comply with the law’s provisions was to expire, saying it ended Nov. 1, the day after it issued the initial guidance.

Kasubhai at the close of a nearly four-hour hearing agreed, saying USDA’s position was unlawful, contrary to past practice and would expose the states’ budgets to irreparable harm if the grace period was not extended.

“The inability to provide compliance in the time period in which they were forced to by virtue of the guidance contributed to an erosion of trust,” Kasubhai said.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Bill Berkrot)

Administration Allows 6 More States to Restrict SNAP Purchases

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 19:20:41 GMT

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Wednesday that she has granted waivers to six additional states allowing them to prevent the use of food stamps to purchase certain items, like soft drinks and candy.

The administration of President Donald Trump has now allowed 18 states to implement a variety of restrictions on low-income recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Rollins and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have urged states to adopt the restrictions as part of the administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.

The restrictions, which go into effect next year, vary by state and include barring soda, candy and energy drink purchases. The new state waivers are for Hawaii, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, Rollins said at an event at USDA headquarters.

States that apply for such waivers gain an advantage in their applications for a $50 billion rural health fund established this year by the Trump administration, Mehmet Oz, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at the Department of Health and Human Services, said at the event.

Rollins and Kennedy have worked closely together to advance the MAHA agenda, including a revision of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which gives advice on what Americans should eat.

The guidelines, expected in January, will “suggest limiting highly processed foods and those high in sugar,” Rollins said on Wednesday.

Rollins also said the USDA would spend $700 million on regenerative agriculture to encouage farmers to adopt conservation farming practices that support soil health.

The administration earlier this year canceled a $3 billion program for sustainable farming practices, like reducing soil tillage.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Writing by Richard Valdmanis and Leah Douglas; Editing by Chris Reese)

Administration to Halt Food Aid Support for Democratic-Led States Amid Data Fight

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 22:27:45 GMT

The administration of President Donald Trump will halt federal payments that help administer the food stamp program to Democratic-led states next week if they do not turn over aid recipient data, according to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

Democratic state and federal officials have resisted an effort by USDA to collect data like immigration status and social security numbers of recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, calling it an unlawful privacy violation. USDA has said it will use the data to root out fraud.

“As of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply,” Rollins said at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting at the White House.

“If a state won’t share data on criminal use of SNAP benefits, it won’t get a dollar of federal SNAP administrative funding,” Rollins later posted on X.

While SNAP benefits are funded by the federal government, states administer the program and each maintain their own recipient records. USDA and states split SNAP administrative costs.

Trump’s fiscal legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” will eventually shift more of the administrative cost and some of the cost of benefits to states.

The Democratic governors of 22 states and the District of Columbia sued USDA in July over the data demand. A federal judge ruled in October that USDA could not deny SNAP funding to the states because of their failure to submit data.

A USDA spokesperson says the agency has established a “SNAP integrity team” to analyze state data.

“We have sent Democrat states yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds,” the spokesperson says.

Twenty-eight states have so far submitted the data to USDA, according to a November letter sent from the agency to states and included in court filings.

Nearly 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell)

California Food Banks Rely on Specialty Crop Growers and Retailers Amid Surging Demand

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 13:12:18 GMT

Sabrina Thakkar, farm to family director for the California Association of Food Banks, says she’s seen about a 20% to 30% increase in demand with the 42 partner food banks it supports due to delays in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and those affected by the government shutdown.

The California Association of Food Banks also supports a broader network of more than 5,000 food banks, pantries and community-based organizations around the state.

Last year the California Association of Food Banks shipped about 250 million pounds of fresh produce, and Thakkar says she anticipates it’ll be closer to 300 million pounds of fresh produce this year.

“Sometimes a farmer may call us and say: ‘I have four truckloads of mandarins or bok choy and can you move them really quick because I think it’s going to go bad?’ We’ll move them as fast as we can,” she says. “We work with our own carriers that we have through the years, and they’ve done food banking and they understand it. And they give us really good rates to do that on the same day as well. So, just with excess that we might have, we’ll move it to our neighboring states across the country as well.”

Thakkar says retailers across the state, too, help play a critical role in supporting local food banks.

“I was visiting Yuba Center, and they had amazing partnerships together where the store manager is contacting the food banks daily, if not weekly, where they have scheduled pickups,” she says. “They go in there, the trucks get loaded, and then they’re back to the food banks.”

And while she says it’s a challenging time, it is also when the community comes together.

Thakkar says the California Association of Food Banks works with more than 200 growers, packinghouses and cooling houses to help move product quickly. Instead of growers paying to hold produce at a cooler if an order is canceled, they’re able to connect with the California Association of Food Banks to move food quickly.

“With SNAP benefits being delayed, a lot of that money isn’t being generated in the stores, which then translates to farmers not getting those orders in and not getting more orders,” she says. “We’re that outlet.”

Increased Need

Thakkar says she’s seen an increase in food bank visits from military households, especially at the San Louis Obispo and Santa Maria food banks, TSA workers and prison guards. She says food banks have been ordering more food, communicating where those in need can go to get food and asking for donations as well to help support these increased efforts.

“It’s become difficult, but not impossible,” she says, adding it’s not unlike other natural disasters where food banks and pantries have to mobilize to help.

There are 5.5 million people who rely on CalFresh, Thakkar says, which is the California’s SNAP program. Imperial and Tulare counties have the highest populations enrolled in CalFresh, where she says one in four residents use the program. Of those CalFresh recipients statewide, about 57% are children under the age of 5 and seniors. There is also a high possibility that those waiting for SNAP funds use other means to pay for food, and that could have an unintended ripple effect.

“If they’re not going to the food banks, then they’re taking that money to buy groceries from another bucket,” she says. “So once this delay ends, and they get their CalFresh funds, they’ll be able to go and get the food, but then they’ll have to pay back all the buckets that they borrowed from, so I don’t see this ending once that’s funded. I do see this going a little further.”

How to Help

Thakkar says growers can contact the California Association of Food Banks or their local food bank to move any fresh produce.

“You can count and trust us to handle your produce,” she says “Making sure the community gets it and there are a lot of tax benefits for growers to do that. We try to make sure that we’re very vocal about it, because there’s a lot of growers that don’t take advantage of it.”

Most importantly, Thakkar says, because there is a continuous need out there.

She adds there’s also a potential opportunity for local food banks to glean, as many have gleaning programs to help prevent more food waste.

Anyone interested in getting involved should contact their local food bank to volunteer, as the need is so great right now, she says, and of course, food banks need monetary donations, too, as most can negotiate a lower cost to the food bank and help stretch dollars. These local food banks and pantries understand the demographics of the communities.

“It’s that personal touch that each food bank has and knows their agencies and their pantries and what they need,” she says. “They’re very customized to everybody’s needs. They take care of what they want and what they need.”

Thakkar says the advocacy team at the California Association of Food Banks also uses those donations to help support an emergency response fund.

“These funds will help purchase food, secure essentials, supplies, strengthen staff to meet surge demands, because we are seeing an increase, about a 20% to 30% increase in every food bank right now,” she says. “It’s unbelievable to see.”

But Thakkar says it’s so rewarding to see how growers, retailers and community members step up to the plate to meet this ever-growing need.

“It is a lot of hard work, but it’s very rewarding at the end of the day to see the community come together to help each other,” she says. “Our mission is to end hunger in California as an association, and I think it takes everybody to do it.”

Supreme Court Extends Pause on Order Requiring Trump to Fully Fund Food Aid

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 12:10:59 GMT

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday extended a pause on a judge’s order that required President Donald Trump’s administration to fully fund food aid for 42 million low-income Americans this month amid the federal government shutdown, even as lawmakers took steps toward ending the stalemate.

The court’s action allows the administration for now to continue withholding about $4 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps.

Lawyers for the administration told the justices on Monday that an end to the government shutdown would eliminate its need to halt the judge’s order, so the court’s extension of a pause issued last Friday by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson may prove short-lived.

Jackson, on Tuesday, wrote that she would have denied the administration’s request to further halt the judge’s order.

The extended pause is set to expire on Thursday.

The U.S. Senate on Monday approved compromise legislation that would end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, breaking a weeks-long stalemate that has disrupted food benefits for millions, left hundreds of thousands of federal workers unpaid and snarled air traffic.

SNAP benefits lapsed at the start of the month for the first time in the program’s 60-year history. Recipients have turned to already strained food pantries and made sacrifices like forgoing medications to stretch tight budgets.

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)

Food Aid Benefits for 42 Million Hang on Legal Battles, Shutdown

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 20:02:54 GMT

The availability of food aid for 42 million low-income Americans remained in question on Monday as legal wrangling over the benefits continued even as lawmakers took steps toward ending the record-long government shutdown.

In the latest twist, the administration of President Donald Trump indicated to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday it would continue to fight an order requiring it to fully fund food benefits known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

The administration has blamed Congress for the crisis and said it was up to lawmakers to solve it.

A letter from the administration to the Supreme Court on Monday came hours after a federal appeals court in Boston rejected a bid by the Trump administration to halt a decision on Thursday by a Rhode Island judge requiring USDA to spend $4 billion to fully fund SNAP benefits, often referred to as food stamps.

The status of the program’s funding for November has been thrown into confusion by a series of legal victories and setbacks for nonprofits and Democratic-led states and cities fighting to restore food aid.

As the legal battles played out, the Senate was moving forward on a measure to end the shutdown, although any deal would need approval of the House and the president and could take days.

Strained Food Pantries, Donations

SNAP recipients have turned to already strained food pantries and made sacrifices like forgoing medications to stretch tight budgets. Community organizations, churches and schools across the country have been ramping up appeals for food donations.

SNAP provides a monthly benefit to eligible Americans whose income is less than 130% of the federal poverty line. The maximum monthly benefit for the current fiscal year is $298 for a one-person household and $546 for a two-person household.

Thursday’s court order from U.S. District Judge John McConnell directing the administration to fully fund SNAP benefits set off a chaotic chain of events.

USDA told states on Friday it was working to comply with McConnell’s order and fully fund benefits. However, also on Friday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put a temporary hold on McConnell’s order and that hold remains in place.

On Saturday, USDA told states they had to “undo” efforts to pay full monthly benefits, or face potential penalties.

Some states were already working before McConnell’s order to use state funds to issue full November benefits. Others had moved on Friday to issue full benefits but paused after the Supreme Court order.

For example, North Carolina, which issued partial benefits on Friday morning, was prepared to issue the remainder over the weekend, but stopped after the USDA directive, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

Legal Battle Goes On

On Monday, a federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked the USDA from carrying out its directive that states undo benefits. The judge, Indira Talwani, scheduled a hearing for later on Monday.

The administration has argued that judges cannot force it to find money in the “metaphorical couch cushions” to pay for full SNAP benefits while the shutdown continues.

The White House and USDA did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston said the evidence showed the administration sat on its hands and did not address the looming crisis as the shutdown lingered.

“We do not take lightly the government’s concern that money used to fund November SNAP payments will be unavailable for other important nutrition assistance programs,” U.S. Circuit Judge Julie Rikelman wrote for the three-judge panel.

But Rikelman, who like the other judges was appointed by a Democratic president, wrote that a ruling for the administration would have led to “widespread harm” by “leaving tens of millions of Americans without food as winter approaches.”

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Jack Queen in New York, Tom Hals in Delaware and Leah Douglans in Washington; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Bill Berkrot)

U.S. Appeals Court Rules Trump Administration Cannot Withhold Full Funding for Food Aid

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 12:46:26 GMT

A federal appeals court late on Sunday allowed a judge’s order to stand that directs President Donald Trump’s administration to fully fund this month’s food aid benefits for 42 million low-income Americans during the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to halt Thursday’s decision by a Rhode Island judge requiring the USDA to spend $4 billion set aside for other purposes to ensure Americans receive full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.

The ruling by the 1st Circuit will have no immediate impact because on Friday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put a temporary hold on the lower court order by U.S. District Judge John McConnell. Her temporary hold remains in place for 48 hours after the 1st Circuit decision.

Jackson’s order, along with earlier court rulings and announcements by the administration and various states at the center of the litigation, has left the status of the country’s anti-hunger food aid program uncertain during the shutdown.

Trump Administration Appealed Lower Court Decision

On Saturday, USDA directed states, which administer the benefits on a day-to-day basis, to “undo” any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, before Jackson’s order or risk financial penalties.

The administration had argued that McConnell could not force the USDA to find money beyond a contingency fund in the “metaphorical couch cushions” to pay for full SNAP benefits while the shutdown continued.

It blamed Congress for the crisis and said it was up to lawmakers to solve it. The Senate on Sunday moved forward on a measure aimed at reopening the federal government, which on Monday reached its 41st day.

“We do not take lightly the government’s concern that money used to fund November SNAP payments will be unavailable for other important nutrition assistance programs,” U.S. Circuit Judge Julie Rikelman wrote for the three-judge panel.

But Rikelman, who like the other judges was appointed by a Democratic president, said the court could not conclude McConnell abused his discretion. A ruling for the administration would have led to “widespread harm” by “leaving tens of millions of Americans without food as winter approaches,” she wrote.

The White House and USDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Monday.

Cost of SNAP Benefits

SNAP benefits are paid monthly to eligible Americans whose income is less than 130% of the federal poverty line. The maximum monthly benefit for the 2026 fiscal year is $298 for a one-person household and $546 for a two-person household.

The administration originally planned to suspend SNAP benefits altogether in November, citing a lack of funding because of the shutdown. They cost $8.5 billion to $9 billion per month.

But in a lawsuit by a group of cities, nonprofits, a union and a food retailer, McConnell ruled that the administration either was required to use emergency funding to partially fund SNAP benefits once it resolved the “administrative and clerical burdens” of paying reduced benefits, or tap additional funding to fully pay out November’s SNAP benefits.

The USDA opted on Nov. 3 to use only contingency funding, which would provide $4.65 billion to cover benefits.

But McConnell on Thursday concluded USDA failed to address how it could take weeks or months for some states to change their systems to process reduced benefits. He ordered it to tap a $23.35 billion fund used for child nutrition programs to provide the $4 billion necessary to make up the difference.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Toby Chopra, Alexia Garamfalvi and Alistair Bell)

Trump Administration Appeals SNAP Funding Order

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 18:50:32 GMT

The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court on Friday, Nov. 7, to block a judge’s order that USDA provide full November food stamp benefits to 42 million low-income Americans.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell in Providence, R.I., on Thursday ordered the payout by Friday, accusing the administration of withholding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits for political reasons with the government shutdown now more than a month old.

The Department of Justice in a filing on Friday with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston said McConnell had no authority to order the payout, saying judges have no power to appropriate or spend federal money.

“There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” the department said. “This is a crisis, to be sure, but it is a crisis occasioned by congressional failure, and that can only be solved by congressional action.”

Americans whose income is less than 130% of the federal poverty line are eligible for SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, which top out monthly at $298 for one-person households and $546 for two-person households.

The case being appealed was brought by several large U.S. cities and many public service and community groups. They are expected to respond to the administration later on Friday.

A group of Democratic-led states is pursuing similar litigation.

Earlier this week, the Agriculture Department said it would pay only partial SNAP benefits for November.

(Reporting by New York Newsroom Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Voters Approve Initiatives for Food in Colorado and Water in Texas

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 18:54:51 GMT

While most of the 2025 election attention turned to the coasts — California’s redistricting proposal and the New York City mayoral race — there were a few food- and ag-focused items on more central U.S. ballots. And all four items passed, most with strong margins.

Coloradans Fund Universal School Food

Just over a third (35.6%) of registered voters turned out in Colorado for the off-year 2025 election. Both of Colorado’s statewide ballot issues that dealt with funding the state’s universal free meals for public school students — Propositions LL and MM — were approved by voters. Both propositions, in different ways, aimed to help fund the state’s Healthy School Meals for All program and its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Prop LL asked voters if it could keep $12.43 million in excess tax money it previously collected from high-income taxpayers and put it into the HSMA program and SNAP. This question was put to voters because of Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which requires the state to return excess tax revenue to the taxpayers unless voters allow the state to keep it.

According to the Colorado secretary of state’s office , Prop LL passed 64.7% to 35.3%, a difference of roughly 425,000 votes.

Prop MM passed with a slightly narrower margin — 58.1% for and 41.9% against, representing a difference of about 236,000 votes — according to the Colorado secretary of state’s office. Prop MM asked to raise up to $95 million annually by reducing the itemized or standard state income tax deductions high-income earners can claim. Currently, those deductions stand at $12,000 for single filers and $16,000 for joint filers. With the passage of Prop MM, these will drop to $1,000 and $2,000, respectively.

The Colorado secretary of state’s office estimates that Coloradans with a federal taxable income of $300,000 or more will see their income taxes increase by an average of $486 as a result of the passage of Prop MM.

Texans Opt for Untaxed Feed and Money for Water

Just under 16% of Texas voters turned out to voice their desires on two different amendments to the state constitution. Proposition 4 asked voters if the state could ear-mark up to $1 billion in its sales and use taxes for water infrastructure, and Prop 5 asked voters to not count animal feed stored for retail sale among property taxes. Both passed with noteworthy margins.

Prop 4 passed with a more than 40 percentage-point spread at 70.4% in favor and 29.6% opposed, a difference of about 1.2 million votes, according to the Texas secretary of state’s office .

The state constitutional amendment proposed to earmark the first $1 billion dollars after $46.5 billion is collected via sales and use taxes each fiscal year for the Texas Water Fund. This fund, administered by the Texas Water Development Board, goes to fund other water-related projects and initiatives throughout the state.

The amendment also requires that no less than 50% of the money that goes into the Texas Water Fund as a result of this measure must go to the New Water Supply for Texas Fund and/or the State Water Implementation Fund for Texas . Together, these two funds focus on increasing water supplies in the state. This can be through efforts like reservoir building, recapture and reuse projects, acquiring water or water rights from nearby states, or desalination efforts.

Prop 5 passed with 63.6% voting in favor and 36.4% voting against. With the passage of this amendment, “animal feed held by the owner of the property for sale at retail” will no longer be subject to property tax. According to Texas state Rep. Cody Harris, R-District 8, who authored the bill, the amendment will bring added consistency to how the state handles animal feed as it relates to taxes.

Across the state, only 15.7% of eligible Texas voters cast their vote on this issue. Perhaps unsurprisingly, however, voter turnout for this amendment was higher in small, rural counties.

Trump Administration to Use Emergency Aid to Partially Fund SNAP

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 19:47:11 GMT

The Trump administration said it plans to partially fund food aid for millions of Americans on Monday after two judges ruled it must use contingency funds to pay for the benefits in November during the government shutdown.

The administration laid out USDA’S plan in a filing in federal court in Rhode Island at the direction of a judge who ordered it last week to use emergency funds to at least partially cover November’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

The U.S. Department of Justice said the USDA is complying with U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s order and “will fulfill its obligation to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds today.”

But while the administration said it would fully deplete the $5.25 billion in contingency funds, it would not use other funding that would allow it to fully fund SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans, which cost $8 billion to $9 billion per month.

The administration said $600 million would be used to fund states’ administrative costs in administering SNAP benefits, leaving $4.65 billion that will be obligated to cover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments.

The partial payments are unprecedented in the program’s history. A USDA official warned in a court filing that at least some states, which administer SNAP benefits on a day-to-day basis, would need weeks to months to make system changes that would allow them to provide the reduced benefits.

SNAP benefits are paid out monthly to eligible Americans whose income is less than 130% of the federal poverty line, or $1,632 a month for a one-person household and $2,215 for a two-person household in many areas.

The prolonged government shutdown, for which Republicans and Democrats have blamed each other, has put SNAP benefits in jeopardy. The shutdown began Oct. 1.

USDA had said funds were insufficient to pay full benefits, and announced last month that it would suspend SNAP benefits starting Nov. 1.

But McConnell and another judge in Boston, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, said on Friday the administration had the discretion to also tap a separate fund holding around $23 billion.

Patrick Penn, deputy under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services at USDA, said in a court filing the agency is carefully considering using those funds but determined they must remain available for child nutrition programs instead of SNAP.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Richard Chang)

How Farmers, Grocers Meet Food Banks' 'Tsunami' of Need

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 12:00:33 GMT

As the USDA said late last week that it would not tap into contingency funds for the November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit disbursement, food recovery organizations, food banks and food pantries have begun bracing for what will likely be an influx of need, says Rod Wieber, executive director of Feeding Northwest.

Wieber says that with s ome of the federal funding cuts to programs earlier this year and furloughed military families have already increased the need for food assistance programs. Feeding Northwest distributes fresh produce not only to the Northwest but to food banks throughout the country.

“It’s like this little tsunami; it just kind of keeps building, little wave after wave,” he says.

“You’ve got this receding federal support that’s been there for years, but then you have this little tidal wave of need that’s coming in and that’s just been building here over the last several months. Now we know that there’s this looming impact with SNAP here this weekend, and our food banks are just fielding calls.”

Pacific Northwest

Eric Williams, community partnerships director at Second Harvest Inland Northwest, which serves central and eastern Washington and northern Idaho, says last fiscal year Second Harvest Inland Northwest distributed more than 37.5 million pounds of food, or about 18 semi loads a week.

“Our job is to get large amounts of food in the door and then back out the door to a network of well over 200 food banks, food pantries across that region that’s over 50,000 square miles,” he says.

It’s been a noticeable uptick in need already, according to Williams.

“It’s stark,” he says.

Williams says Second Harvest Inland Northwest holds mobile markets, which usually disperse about 250 30- to 40-pound boxes to families.

“We had one in the Spokane Valley yesterday and another one in Wenatchee. In the Spokane Valley we served 474 families, and in Wenatchee we served 485 and turned at least 60 cars away,” he says.

Wieber, too, says he’s been in meetings this week with food banks across the state and most express concern at the uncertainty of need. These food banks know the need will increase, but they’re not sure by how much.

“We’re just seeing new faces showing up at our food bank now,” he says he’s heard some of the food banks say.

And Wieber says that while it’s likely that there will be a groundswell of donations and volunteers around the holiday season, most organizations don’t know if it will be enough to offset the increased demand. Wieber says with a greater need comes greater monetary resources to transport the food to rural communities and smaller food pantries in urban neighborhoods.

“That’s the unknown right now is will there be enough to support that groundswell of need that’s going to be out there?” he says. “Yes, we do see people definitely dig in their pockets and purchase additional pantry supplies to help food banks and support with their time, but is it going to be enough with this bigger need that’s out there?”

Food recovery organization Spoonfuls partners with food retailers and brands to pick up excess or unsold food — including produce — and deliver it to community-based organizations across Massachusetts.

(Photo courtesy of Spoonfuls)

Northeast

Liz Miller, senior manager of community relations for Massachusetts-based Spoonfuls, says the partner organizations that Spoonfuls supports have come together to discuss how best to help fulfill this anticipated need in a coordinated effort.

“We’ve received like an influx of partner inquiries from new partners looking for food,” she says. “Our existing partners are reaching out, asking what our plan is and how we are responding. Folks are talking about how to coordinate efforts.”

In 2024, Spoonfuls says it recovered 5.5 million pounds of food, most of which was fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy. Its efforts helped more than 370,000 individuals in the state.

Miller says partner organizations have also communicated how many of the SNAP benefit recipients will need to learn how to access food in ways they haven’t had to before.

“Everybody is very much in this moment just trying to figure it out and asking a lot of questions and not yet really landing on solutions,” she says. “I’ve even heard some pantries say, ‘We’re already at capacity with what we’re able to do and who we’re serving, and we don’t envision ourselves being an effective stopgap in this moment as much as we want to be.’”

Miller says this could mean these food pantries Spoonfuls supports don’t have enough volunteers or the space to take on additional storage to meet this unknown but likely increasing need.

“It’s really just everybody very much scrambling to figure something out and trying their best to work together but also being laser-focused on how they support their own communities,” she says.

Miller, too, says it’s important to point out that the loss of SNAP benefits will have a big ripple effect on the economy.

“It’s going to have a pretty sizable impact on a lot of retailers,” she says. “I’ve heard in some regions of Massachusetts and in urban areas, the revenue generated by SNAP is in some places 50% to 60% of what retailers are bringing in. When this SNAP money disappears, those retailers are going to be hit very heavily.”

Midwest

“None of us will know exactly what the demand is going to be, but we know that it’s going to be increased,” says Jada Hoerr, chief resource officer of Midwest Food Bank. “Where we shine is that we can be nimble to provide support to our nonprofit partners the best that we can.”

Hoerr says that although food banks and pantries expect the need for resources will grow in the coming weeks, a bright spot in all of this is the collaborative spirit of these organizations.

“The emergency food system is resilient,” she says. “The nonprofit partners, the food banks, the food donors — we do all the best we can to get food to those people in a time of need. That’s a resilient system, and I have high confidence that there will be increased demand, and it will be a challenge, but we will provide solutions.”

The Midwest Food Bank has 10 locations as well as remote locations throughout the country in the Midwest, East Coast, South and Southwest and serves more than 2,400 nonprofit partners.

“We’re just doing everything we can in this moment to say yes, to be able to procure the food so that we can be ready to distribute it to our nonprofit partners,” she says. “In some cases, we’ve added partners.”

Hoerr says that this uncertainty could cause some to become downtrodden and that she knows being of service is the best way to step up to the plate at this time of great need.

“We just need problem-solving and a steady focus on our mission, and that’s going to serve the food-insecure the best possible,” she says.

Food donation.

(Photo: Krakenimages.com, Adobe Stock)

Community Impact

Williams and those working in the food recovery space say that meeting this expected increase in need is not possible without growers, retailers, distributors and more. Williams says about 87% to 92% of Second Harvest Inland Northwest’s food comes from private donations.

“It’s the first harvest that makes the second harvest possible,” Williams says. “And it’s that generosity that gets that food to us.”

And he says it would be easy to get bogged down in this overwhelming sense of anticipated need; he says a good, healthy dose of optimism doesn’t hurt.

“To be a food banker, you’ve got to be optimistic and kind of have that ‘the glass is three-quarters full’ outlook,” he says. “The generosity of the farmers, the ranchers, the orchardists, the grocers, the manufacturers in this region who make it all possible for us — just taking a second and reflecting on their generosity really helps you through. To get that generosity and graciousness of the people who donate food and funds and time, that’s what keeps our spirits up.”

Wieber says part of his role is to help spread the wealth, sending loads of fresh produce to Houston, Minnesota and more.

“It’s great to have this industry that you know supports us because we couldn’t do our work without them,” he says. “We take for granted here in Washington state that we have apples year-round, but there’s other places that, while they can get them, they just don’t see them in the supply that we do. So, to be able to share that abundance with other places besides here in the Northwest, it’s great, it’s wonderful to do. We’re thankful for the people that we work with in the industry that support us in that way.”

Hoerr also says she’s grateful for the critical role that food donors play for the Midwest Food Bank.

“We’re thankful for the opportunity to distribute it to individuals and nonprofits that are in need,” she says.

And Miller encourages those who want to get involved but aren’t sure how best to help to reach out to the local organizations.

“For many, it’s probably financial resources; for some, it might be volunteer resources,” she says. “The good news is I think some programs are hearing from folks in ways they weren’t before.”

But she tempers that with the economic reality that some people may not be able to give more.

“The need has increased so much,” she says. “The cuts that we’ve already experienced has already put more pressure on the philanthropic. The demand there was already higher and in some cases the willingness to give has shifted because of the uncertain economic times, so it’s a bit of a mixed bag.”

Miller says it’s important to communicate the vital role that SNAP and food recovery programs play in communities.

“Make that point to legislators and to the USDA, that is responsible for SNAP funding, to really hammer home that point that it’s so much more than just feeding people; it’s an economic driver,” she says.

Hoerr says that she’s definitely seen an increase in financial donations and those wanting to volunteer.

“We need more, but I think just that people are starting to prepare themselves to be community advocates,” she says. “We want to encourage that and provide a safe place for people to donate their funds and to donate their time to help be a good neighbor to their community.”

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25 States Sue Trump Administration Over Suspending SNAP Benefits

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 17:16:40 GMT

A coalition of Democratic-led states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, seeking to avert what would be a historic lapse in food aid for millions of Americans that is set to begin Nov. 1 amid an ongoing government shutdown.

The lawsuit represents a critical challenge to the USDA’s decision not to use $6 billion in contingency funds to pay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, which costs about $8 billion monthly.

At stake is whether more than 41 million low-income Americans will receive their November benefits, which would mark the first time payments have lapsed due to a government shutdown in the program’s 60-year history.

“The federal government has the money to continue funding SNAP benefits — they’re choosing to harm millions of families across the country already struggling to make ends meet,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said in a social media post about the lawsuit filed in Boston federal court by attorneys general and governors from 25 states and the District of Columbia.

The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack Obama.

She set a hearing for Thursday on whether to issue a temporary restraining order forcing the USDA to use available contingency funds for November SNAP benefits.

The USDA’s shutdown plan had included the potential use of contingency funds for SNAP, but on Saturday, the department updated its website to say no benefits would be issued on Nov. 1 as scheduled, stating “the well has run dry.”

The lawsuit argues the suspension of benefits is arbitrary and being carried out in violation of the law and regulations governing the program, which requires that “assistance under this program shall be furnished to all eligible households.”

The lawsuit, led by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, California, Arizona and Minnesota, says the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 makes clear that the contingency funds should be used when necessary to carry out program operations.

“Millions of Americans are about to go hungry because the federal government has chosen to withhold food assistance it is legally obligated to provide,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the USDA in a statement said Senate Democrats are approaching an inflection point where they either “hold out for the far-left wing of the party or reopen the government so mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable among us can receive timely WIC and SNAP allotments.”

SNAP benefits are available to Americans whose income is less than 130% of the federal poverty line, or $1,632 a month for a one-person household, or $2,215 for a two-person household in many areas.

SNAP benefits are paid out monthly, although the exact date payments are distributed varies among states, which are responsible for the day-to-day administration of the benefits.

The shutdown also threatens benefits for nearly 7 million participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Shumaker)

Food, Water and Ag on the Ballot in Colorado, Texas

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 13:13:41 GMT

Presidential elections get a lot of attention. Attention starts dropping off for midterm elections. But off-year elections? Voters might not even know about them.

This year, on Nov. 4, citizens in at least 22 states will get to vote on a variety of state- and local-level positions and issues. Most ballot items deal with local nitty-gritty issues like school board members, bonds and city council representatives, but some will feature state-level issues as well.

Colorado and Texas in particular have four ballot measures that deal with food access and ag-adjacent concerns.

Colorado’s Food-Funding Props LL and MM

Every Colorado voter will be asked two statewide ballot issues: Propositions LL and MM . Both deal with food funding via tax changes, though neither create new taxes.

Prop LL asks voters if the state can keep the $12.43 million excess tax money it collected from high-income taxpayers following the creation of the state’s universal free Healthy School Meals for All program in 2022. The money would fund the program and, eventually, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the state. According to Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, any tax revenue collected in excess of estimates proposed to voters must be returned unless citizens vote to let the state keep it.

Prop MM would reduce the tax deduction levels for the same high-income Colorado taxpayers who paid excess taxes for the HSMA program. Currently, the itemized or standard tax deductions are $12,000 for single filers and $16,000 for joint filers. The measure proposes to reduce these levels to $1,000 and $2,000 respectively. The additional revenue generated from this would also go to fund the HSMA program and SNAP. If passed by voters, the state estimates that up to $95 million could be generated by the measure.

The HSMA program provides universal free breakfasts and lunches to all Colorado public school students rather than just those students who qualify based on economic need. Eligibility for free or reduced-cost school meals for students are often tied to household eligibility for support programs, such as SNAP, WIC and Medicare. The passage of the Federal Budget Reconciliation tightened eligibility standards for such programs across the country. Nonprofit group Illuminate Colorado estimates that almost 300,000 Colorado families will lose some or all of their SNAP benefits as a result.

Every registered Colorado voter should have received a ballot by mail. Ballots must be dropped off at designated drop boxes or at polling places by 7 p.m. on Nov. 4. Voters who opt to vote in-person can do so, but they must return their unused mailed ballots. For more information, visit the Colorado secretary of state’s voter information page .

Propping Up Water Funds With Texas’ Prop 4

Proposition 4 asks Texas voters to amend the state’s constitution to get more dedicated funding for water infrastructure in the state. Water in the arid state is already a pressing agricultural issue , particularly since the state largely depends on increasingly late, short and unreliable water deliveries from Mexico . But the state’s population is also growing rapidly, according to the Texas Water Development Board , and there is already a massive funding shortfall for the state’s water infrastructure needs.

Rather than create a new tax, the amendment would earmark up to $1 billion per year of the state’s existing sales and use tax revenue for the Texas Water Fund for 20 years, starting September 2027. The Texas Water fund would get the first $1 billion in sales and use tax revenue after $46.5 billion was collected each fiscal year. According to the Texas comptroller , the state brought in $47.2 billion in sales and use tax revenue in 2024.

The Texas Water Fund was established in 2023 is administered by the TWDB, which has the mission to “ensure a secure water future for Texas.” The fund’s money can be used for water infrastructure efforts, including reservoir-building efforts, as well as funding other water-related programs TWDB already oversees.

Taking Off Texas Taxes on Animal Feed

Texans will also be asked to weigh in on Proposition 5 . This is another proposed amendment to the state’s constitution that would exempt animal feed held on a property for retail sale from property taxes.

The amendment was authored by Texas state Rep. Cody Harris, R-District 8. In his analysis document, Harris notes that “animal feed is typically exempt from taxation at each location or transaction during its life cycle,” except for when it is inventory and the amendment “seeks to address this inconsistency.”

Texas voters can vote early through Oct. 31 or vote on Election Day, Nov. 4. Texas voters can find their polling places as well as Election Day information here .

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Organizations Decry USDA Ending Household Food Security Reports

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 22:38:08 GMT

The USDA announced Sept. 20 that it would end its Household Food Security reports, calling them “redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous.”

USDA has conducted these studies for more than 30 years and will release one final study in October.

“Trends in the prevalence of food insecurity have remained virtually unchanged, regardless of an over 87% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spending between 2019 and 2023,” the USDA said in a news release.

While the department says it will continue to prioritize statutory requirements and use more timely and accurate data sets, when necessary, those in the food recovery space condemn the ending of this study.

Joni Kusminsky, senior director of communications and public affairs for Greater Boston area-based Spoonfuls, says organizations such as Spoonfuls rely on the information in the Household Food Security Report.

“The Household Food Security Report has been among the most cited measures of food insecurity in the United States for the past three decades,” she says. “Its findings have spanned political administrations — Democrat and Republican. Those of us in this space, organizations working to address hunger, including Spoonfuls and its partners, have long relied on this data as a credible gauge of how well efforts are working (or not working) to address food insecurity in the United States and here in Massachusetts, where Spoonfuls operates.”

Eric Mitchell, president of the Alliance to End Hunger, says ending this survey is a signal that tracking and battling hunger is no longer a priority.

“For decades, the annual survey has served as a barometer of the effectiveness of our nation’s policies and programs supporting lower-income people and families,” he says. “With continuing worries about food inflation, as well as significant cuts to America’s largest food assistance program — SNAP — this move is a blow to policymakers and advocates who rely on the data to improve the lives of our food-insecure neighbors.”

Kusminsky says organizations outside the food insecurity space may not truly understand the implications of the end of this report. However, she adds that terminating the report will likely mask the impact of a lack of federal investment in programs such as SNAP.

“What this report reveals (and what terminating this report won’t change) is the importance of a robust safety net, where rates of food insecurity reflect federal investments in programs like SNAP,” she says.

Kusminsky says it’s likely that smaller, privately funded studies will attempt to measure food insecurity rates, but that could create a confusing patchwork of information about the true scope of food insecurity in the country.

“We simply won’t have as clear or comprehensive a picture of food insecurity as we do now,” she says. “This lack of data will make it harder to assess the impact of cuts to safety net programs, potentially leaving food programs (like pantries) in a lurch when they’re not able to adequately prepare for an onslaught of need.”

Kusminsky also says food pantries may not understand whether upticks in need are a widespread trend or an isolated event — essentially the “why” behind the need.

“Eliminating the data won’t eliminate the problem of hunger nor the need to be both responsive and proactive to solve it,” she says.

Mitchell urges the USDA to reconsider its decision, saying this data helps improve lives and strengthen communities.

“It is further troubling that the decision comes amid predictions that hunger may increase in the coming months and years,” he says. “Hunger will not disappear simply because it is no longer tracked.”

The Food Bank for New York City says its network of more than 800 food pantries has been feeding twice as many New Yorkers since the pandemic.

“The Administration can stop tracking data, but our neighbors in need still exist: hard-working families, seniors, and children whose need for food assistance remains urgent,” the organization said in a statement. “With 1.4 million New Yorkers facing food insecurity, we will continue to do what we have always done: serve our neighbors with dignity and ensure families have access to the food they need.”

Kusminsky, too, says Spoonfuls has seen a rise in food insecurity through the currently available data and partner organizations that receive recovered food from Spoonfuls. She says Spoonfuls expects the need to continue to grow with the future cuts to SNAP, which will reverberate down to those partner organizations.

“Food recovery is a tool we have to reduce waste and feed people who can use this food,” she says. “But that charge gets tougher when you can’t as readily demonstrate, with empirical data, that people are in need. Meanwhile, though, it doesn’t change the fact that people are, in fact, in need. Advancing real, practical solutions to tackle hunger (like food recovery) alongside policy-driven solutions that bolster our safety net is still key.”

No Kid Hungry Back-to-School Report: School Meals Serve as Lifeline

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 21:23:54 GMT

The Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty in the U.S. for 2024, showing child poverty rates at 13.4%.

“Too many kids are still facing poverty, and it’s about to get worse,” says George Kelemen, senior vice president for Share Our Strength and its No Kid Hungry campaign. “The poverty report shows millions of families are still struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table. As the cost of food continues to rise, even more kids will face hunger.

“Moreover, the nearly $200 billion in cuts to SNAP that Congress passed this summer will make it significantly harder for those facing poverty to feed their children. Millions of families will lose access to SNAP altogether.

“These cuts and changes to SNAP not only punish working families but will also make it nearly impossible for some states to continue administering one of our nation’s most effective anti-hunger programs. We know where this leads: more kids facing poverty and hunger.

Still, Kelemen says, it’s not too late to change course.

“Congress must act now to reverse these devastating changes to vital assistance programs,” he says.

An overwhelming number of parents are facing more challenges to put food on the table for their kids due to rising food costs and a worsening job market, according to new research released by No Kid Hungry .

Among the national sample of parents surveyed, more than one in four families reported experiencing the loss of a job, and four out of 10 parents reported a worsening financial situation. This, paired with the steadily rising costs of living, resulted in more than one-third of parents reporting that they worried about their households running out of food during the summer break, and 40% having to make tough trade-offs like choosing between paying emergency bills and purchasing healthy food for their children over the past year.

“It feels like no matter how much you earn, nothing kind of remains. It’s living paycheck by paycheck. When you are on a tight budget, a meal from a school helps you pass through that difficult phase.”

“ Research shows that the meals kids eat at school are often the most nutritionally balanced meals they get all day,” Kelemen says. “And that’s because school meals meet robust nutritional standards, including produce with at least one serving of fruit and one serving of vegetables with every meal. Many schools serve fresh fruits and vegetables and offer salad bars or cook meals from scratch each day. As shown in our new back-to-school report , when kids have access to healthy, nutritious meals like they do at school, everyone benefits. Kids attend school more regularly, can focus in the classroom, and it alleviates stress and financial strain for parents who indicated that their children may not have food to eat at school some days if the school meal program did not exist.”

According to a mother surveyed in Colorado: “Making ends meet is the biggest challenge right now. We both work with five kids in the house. It’s a stretch every month to meet everybody’s needs. It’s tough in this economy. And we do have concerns about feeding them. We watch our dollars a lot closer, but there are times when we can barely scrape things together to make a meal.”

For many kids, summer is the hungriest time of year when kids lose access to free and reduced-price school meals. As two in three parents worry food prices will continue to rise throughout the year, the back-to-school season marks the return of these essential school meal programs, providing stress and financial relief for parents and caregivers struggling to make ends meet and ensuring kids have access to the most important school supply: food.

Key findings from the report include:

School meals increase academic success and attendance rates

83% of parents agree their children have a hard time concentrating when hungry. Having a full belly ensures kids have the mental clarity necessary to learn with 88% reporting that school meals help their child(ren) focus and do better in school.
Three out of five parents report that school meals motivate their children to attend school regularly. And some parents report increased extracurricular engagement as well.

School meal programs reduce mental and financial stress for parents and help build stronger families

With more than half of parents worrying about the necessary costs of going back to school like clothes and notebooks, school lunch and breakfast programs ease the concern for food access while their kid(s) are in the classroom. Nearly half of the parents indicated their children might not have food to eat at school some days if the school meal program did not exist.
Over three in five parents say school meals are extremely valuable for their family. For many parents, this value can come in the form of mental health benefits and the ability to be more present with their kids.
While nearly half of parents believe the stress they feel interferes with their parenting, even more — two in three — report school meals help reduce it.

Another parent, a father in Georgia, reported: “It feels like no matter how much you earn, nothing kind of remains. It’s living paycheck by paycheck. When you are on a tight budget, a meal from a school helps you pass through that difficult phase.”

“It goes beyond just meals,” Kelemen says, “when kids can rely on the meals they receive at school, everyone benefits. It means more stability for hard-working parents who are managing the stresses of rising costs and living paycheck to paycheck. It means kids can grow up healthier, focus in the classroom and are more likely to graduate and escape the cycle of poverty. Stronger, smarter kids mean a stronger, smarter nation for us all.”

Tan France, Tiffany Derry, Kristin Cavallari and Chelsey White have teamed up with No Kid Hungry to bring awareness that food is the most important school supply.

(Image courtesy of No Kid Hungry)

TV host and designer, Tan France; chef and restaurateur, Tiffany Derry; TV personality, Kristin Cavallari; and baking blogger, Chelsey White have teamed up with No Kid Hungry to bring awareness to the importance of school meal programs.

“As a parent, you want the best for your kids,” France says. “School meals allow kids that opportunity to be their best and for families to be happier and healthier in every aspect. I’m proud to team up with No Kid Hungry to bring attention to these findings and help more kids access the food they need to thrive inside and outside of the classroom this year.”

Nearly 14 million kids in the U.S. are living with hunger, but No Kid Hungry says it is changing that by working with schools and communities across the country to make sure they have the resources and funds they need to strengthen school meal programs like breakfast, lunch and after-school meals to feed as many students as possible. In the 2023-24 school year, No Kid Hungry’s partners served more than 374 million meals to kids and families nationwide.

Hy-Vee Expands Access to Online Grocery Delivery With SNAP/EBT Payments

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 14:17:49 GMT

Hy-Vee customers using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)/Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) benefits can now pay for online grocery delivery at all its store locations that offer the service.

Hy-Vee began accepting SNAP/EBT payment for pickup orders in 2020. To streamline the payment process, Hy-Vee says it has now introduced a new digital experience that allows customers to pay online using SNAP/EBT for both pickup and delivery orders. The new digital experience also features badges to help customers easily identify SNAP-eligible grocery products when shopping online, according to the company.

“By offering SNAP/EBT payment for delivery orders, Hy-Vee can now reach more customers and increase grocery access throughout the communities we serve,” says Dan Gubbins, vice president of e-commerce for Hy-Vee. “With additional digital features, the online experience makes it even easier for our SNAP/EBT customers to shop for groceries.”

More information about Hy-Vee’s SNAP/EBT services is available through the company’s website .

WIC Association CEO Responds to Trump Administration’s USDA Reorg Plans

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 23:48:11 GMT

The National WIC Association, the nonprofit education and advocacy arm of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, serves nearly 7 million people across the U.S., providing critical health and nutrition services for low-income families. But despite its reputation as one of the most successfully federally funded nutrition programs, WIC is bracing for unwelcome change as a result of the Trump administration’s reorganization plan for USDA.

To learn more about what’s ahead for the nutrition program, The Packer sat down with National WIC Association President and CEO Georgia Machell on Tuesday.

What concerns you most about the USDA’s plans to close its food and nutrition headquarters in Alexandria, Va., and relocate staff outside the D.C. metro area?

Machell: What ultimately concerns us most is the negative impact this is going to have on families. We’re always thinking about the end user and the folks who participate in the program to access healthy food and fresh fruits and vegetables, breastfeeding support, nutrition education — and [we’re concerned about] the disruptions to service that we know this is going to present.

And we’ve been through this before. In the last Trump administration, we saw the Economic Research Service get moved out of Washington, D.C., and as a result, they lost about two-thirds of their staff, and that had a really negative impact on the output they had and what they were able to continue doing.

You’ve said relocating key staff and dismantling regional offices is not about efficiency and that it will in fact “sever decades of institutional knowledge, weaken quality control, delay critical services and create unnecessary barriers for state agencies and families who rely on WIC.”

We know this isn’t about efficiency, even though that’s how it’s being framed. It’s about politics. And our concern is that this is actually going to be the opposite of efficient, because we know that services will be impacted.

The relationship between federal staff, regional staff and state staff is intrinsic to making WIC work on the ground, and if that gets disrupted, we can anticipate that there are going to be disruptions to how WIC functions on the ground.

There will be delays. There will be issues. The troubleshooting that happens between the state, the regions and the federal workforce is really, really important, as are the decades of institutional knowledge that are at risk if these moves actually happen. So, when we heard that this was being proposed, we were deeply concerned about the impact that this was ultimately going to have on how WIC services will function and how families will be able to access WIC services.

Even before the announcement of this plan, the administration’s dismissal of probationary employees and deferred resignation programs had already undermined the agency’s capacity to deliver timely support to state WIC agencies, including the distribution of congressionally appropriated funds. These are not cost-saving measures or efforts aimed at streamlining. They are politically motivated acts of bureaucratic disruption, designed to erode USDA’s ability to function.

Is there a timeline in place for how quickly the reorg is happening?

One of the things we are learning is that there’s a lack of details on what this plan includes. We know high-level that the aim is to move people out of D.C. and to close the FNS [Food and Nutrition Service] office in Alexandria, but in terms of what the specifics actually are, I don’t think there’s that level of clarity yet, which, as you might imagine, is creating a lot of deep concern for the folks who work at USDA and FNS.

Is part of your concern not only the inefficiencies this is going to create, but also that they might be letting people go from their positions?

I think it’s a roundabout way of letting people go. And again, going back to what we saw with the ERS move in the last Trump administration, we saw the impact that had on folks leaving.

This is restructuring in a very roundabout way because there are folks who simply cannot drop everything and move to a completely new region. I think the other thing that’s important to be aware of is that there has already been a significant reduction in staff at FNS, simply through the voluntary redundancy programs, and as a result of everything else that’s happened this year.

They’ve already been reduced from a staff of 1,500 to 1,000, which is significant. And that’s before the restructuring plan. So, I think the questions that we’re left with is: How far is this going to go and how many more people is the service going to lose? And again, what will the impact be on families and how disruptive is this going to become?

We’ve already lost 500 people from FNS, and states are reporting that it is taking them longer to receive their federal funds. So, there’s already disruption. There’s already delays, and we can only expect those to get worse should more people leave as a result of this announcement.

If this isn’t a move toward greater efficiency, as the administration says, what is it?

In a nutshell, it’s in alignment with a lot of other things we’ve seen come from the administration. It’s reducing the size of government. It is reducing who can access the programs. It is all about making sure that they’re completely turning on its head what we’ve known for decades to be successful and impactful programming.

So, it is confusing and difficult to make sense of why this is being framed as an efficiency move, where when you actually pause and think about what the impact truly will be is anything but efficient.

In terms of access to fresh fruits and vegetables and other nutritious foods, as well as providing nutrition education, how might the reorg impact WIC’s ability to serve?

I think it’s a case of services being disruptive. And I think you have to put in context that, over the last few years, WIC has made tremendous strides in improving the experience that families have participating in WIC.

We have done extensive research with over 40,000 WIC participants, and what they value most about the WIC program — what keeps them coming back — is the fruits and vegetable voucher and the value that that brings to them and their families.

Our concern is that if the ability to approve vendors and get people in the WIC program is disrupted, then the experience participants have is also impacted. So, our primary worry here is that implementing WIC and the Cash Value Benefit is going to get slowed down.

Ironically, our concern is also efficiency and about making sure that services are provided at the pace that people are used to, and not taking any steps backwards. And we want to ensure that families who are eligible can access WIC services in a way that works for them.

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) contained some pretty significant cutbacks to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. What has the indirect impact been to WIC as a result?

One of the things that came out of the One Big Beautiful Bill was significant cuts to SNAP and significant cuts to Medicaid. And yes, WIC wasn’t mentioned explicitly. But there’s an interconnectedness of things, and this is an area where that is very true.

Many participants access WIC through what’s called adjunctive eligibility, which is where you are eligible for another program which automatically makes you eligible for WIC. And if folks are no longer eligible for those programs, we risk losing a significant number of people who would be eligible for WIC.

According to a June 2025 policy brief the National WIC Association sent to The Packer, an estimated 8,252,425 pregnant women, postpartum women, infants and children are adjunctively eligible for WIC in a given month in 2025 due to their participation in Medicaid or SNAP and could be impacted by the policies in the OBBB. Of those, 3,076,968 women and children would lose their income eligibility for WIC entirely should they lose access to Medicaid.

Our deep concern here is about how people access the program and how people are used to accessing the program. That’s something we’ve been paying a lot of attention to and raising flags about. There is some interconnectedness between these programs, and if you mess with one, then that does have a knock-on effect and impact WIC as well.

Where does WIC go from here?

Congress needs to be included in this conversation. There is going to be a hearing [July 30] to inform and allow folks to ask more detailed questions. So, we would urge Congress to use their oversight authority to prevent any kind of move.

And we’re hopeful that [the relocation] doesn’t happen, because a move would be incredibly detrimental in terms of what’s next for WIC. We are continuing to move forward with appropriations and continuing to make sure the program gets the funding that it needs to continue to provide services to every eligible family.

We’re also as an association working to modernize and be participant focused. So, I’m hopeful that over the next year you will see more on opportunities around online ordering in WIC. We want WIC to be a program that is easy for folks to access and helpful to them in the way that they can participate.

What’s the latest with WIC funding?

We did have concerns a couple months ago when the president’s budget came out, specifically related to the cash value voucher, because there were some really nasty cuts proposed to that. The House budget proposed less cuts. But we are going to oppose anyone cutting any aspect of the fruit and vegetable voucher, because we know just how important it is.

And then the Senate came through and has protected it, but it all still needs to pass.

We are hoping that it will, but I think we also anticipate there could be continuing resolutions come September. So, we’re just trying to keep our eye on the ball and keep a finger on the pulse to make sure that folks on the Hill are educated as to how important WIC is to families.

Save Mart's CARES Foundation Offers Grants To Address Rising Food Insecurity

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 17:41:59 GMT

With the federal government scaling back support for food banks and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients, grocers like The Save Mart Cos. say retailers must step up to help fill the gap.

“The Save Mart Companies CARES Foundation is committed to supporting organizations and programs which address food insecurity in our communities, which has indeed become more pressing in recent times,” says Joan Dobias-Davis, chairperson of the CARES Foundation and senior vice president and chief human resources officer for The Save Mart Cos. “The retail grocery industry has a responsibility to be part of the solution, as much of the food product going to area food banks comes directly from food retailers. As area food banks are under growing pressure to handle increasing volume of food donations, they may lack the infrastructure required to preserve, store and transport food product to those in need.

“The Save Mart Companies CARES Foundation, in partnership with the Jim Pattison Foundation, is leveraging our industry expertise and passion for healthful foods to address the infrastructure gaps, recognizing that each dollar invested enables the distribution of 10 meals, directly benefiting food-insecure families in our communities,” Dobias-Davis adds.

A statement by the California Association of Food Banks reports that both the Senate and House proposed budget reconciliation bills include hundreds of billions in cuts to SNAP, known as CalFresh in California: a $295 billion cut in the House bill and a $211 billion cut in the Senate bill. If approved, California alone would face “upwards of $3 billion cut to this critical food safety-net, which supports more than 5 million Californians,” the association says. In addition, the funding cuts would also affect the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which supports food banks, school meals and SUN Bucks (supporting families during summer months when school meals are unavailable).

“Cuts to SNAP (CalFresh) are happening at the same time as funding is being reduced for Medicaid and several other programs that support the social safety net. When families are forced to make trade-offs between health care, rent, childcare and other critical expenses, we know that food loses out,” says Stacia Levenfeld, CEO for the California Association of Food Banks.

“To understand the impact of cutting CalFresh benefits on hunger in our communities, you need to recognize that the cumulative effect of the safety net cuts has a multiplier impact on hunger,” Levenfeld adds. “Food banks around the state are still working with their communities to understand these impacts, but we know they will be significant.”

Levenfeld says the association is closely following how these programmatic cuts will impact hunger in the state.

“Our team is continuing our data and research efforts, and has resources available for reference here ,” Levenfeld says.

CARES Foundation

The Save Mart Companies’ CARES Foundation is now accepting applications for its 2025 Feeding Forward Grant. Designed to fight hunger and strengthen the food safety net in the communities it serves, the program helps expand food recovery infrastructure and supports edible food recovery efforts in alignment with California SB 1383 regulations, according to a news release.

The announcement followed the organization’s annual fundraising event, the CARES Golf Tournament, held at the Chardonnay Golf Club in Napa, Calif.

In honor of the foundation’s 20^th anniversary of giving, the 2025-2026 Feeding Forward Grant will focus on building the capacity of nonprofit organizations that work to recover and redistribute food to those in need, the company says. Grants ranging from $20,000 to $200,000 are available to eligible nonprofit food security organizations to fund critical infrastructure such as cold storage, refrigerated vehicles, warehouse improvements, forklifts and other equipment essential for food recovery and distribution.

“The Save Mart Companies and the CARES Foundation are honored to support organizations that make a lasting impact in our communities and help our neighbors thrive,” Dobias-Davis says. “We value those organizations that passionately work to address important needs, especially programs that support youth, education, the arts, health, food insecurity and other life challenges faced daily in the communities we serve.”

Applications for the Feeding Forward Grant will be accepted from July 11 through August 11. Interested nonprofit organizations may apply online at thesavemartcompanies.com/community . Applications must be submitted using the Feeding Forward process in the grant application, according to the release.

IFPA Urges MAHA to Increase Nation's Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 19:11:53 GMT

The Make America Healthy Again Commission is one of President Donald Trump’s focus efforts. However, there has been a disconnect between the stated goals of the commission and its actions. But a focus on fresh produce could help.

On July 15, the International Fresh Produce Association issued a letter containing 10 recommendations that the association says offer proven strategies to reduce diet-related disease and improve public health.

The 10 recommendations are:

Make produce prescriptions a covered benefit within the health system
Improve transparency in food labeling, especially as it relates to fruits and vegetables
Expand financial incentives for fruit and vegetable purchases
Expand the fresh fruit and vegetable program (FFVP)
Modernize USDA purchasing programs to expand fresh produce purchases
Increase fruit and vegetable access for SNAP recipients
Enhance data collection for federal nutrition programs
Support access to safe crop protection tools
Invest in specialty crop research and innovation
Incentivize regenerative agriculture practices

“For too long, our nation has fallen short of consuming the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables, resulting in serious public health consequences,” says IFPA CEO Cathy Burns, who called on the MAHA Commission for a bold, coordinated strategy to increase consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Robert Kennedy Jr., the MAHA Commission chair and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says one of the commission’s and HHS’ top priorities is to end chronic disease, highlighting diet-related illness diabetes. According to the CDC, roughly half of Americans have diabetes or prediabetes .

However, recent MAHA Commission action has included initiatives such as removing artificial food dyes from processed foods.

“If you look at what the MAHA leadership has prioritized to date, while they reference whole foods, there hasn’t been a true championing of fresh fruits and vegetables,” says Mollie Van Lieu, IFPA’s vice president of nutrition and health.

“If we’re going to address those underlying prevalent conditions, we’re going to need to do more than take artificial food dyes out of food.”

Nutrition-focused recommendations

The food-as-medicine mentality is a common one among Americans, and fresh produce can be just what the doctor ordered. If the doctor can order it, that is.

IFPA’s first recommendation to the MAHA Commission is to make “produce prescriptions” more widespread in the U.S. healthcare system.

“There are a handful of states that have what are called Medicaid 1115 waivers, where they can incorporate food as medicine strategies, including produce prescriptions,” Van Lieu explains. She adds that there has been a lot of success in states that have offered produce prescription programs.

“Our ask in general is that the federal government and HHS make produce prescriptions a standard practice of clinical care,” she says. “The onus wouldn’t be solely on the states to do this if that happens.”

Another of IFPA’s asks is to improve labeling related to fruit and vegetable content. Pointing to the recent front-of-package nutritional label summary proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Van Lieu says IFPA would like to see that and more.

“We would like to see that taken one step forward to disclosure of meaningful amounts of fruits and vegetables,” she says. “One only needs to go through the grocery store to find a ton of products that are implying significant inclusion of fruits and vegetables, either in their name, their description or the imaging.”

Those implications are often not accurate, particularly when snack foods are involved, she says. IFPA wants labeling that would list, “in normal household measurements,” how much fruit and/or vegetables are in products making such claims.

“We want to ensure transparency with consumers and that is something the MAHA Commission has said they want — radical transparency — and we think this [recommendation] fits in with that nicely,” she says.

SNAP, Medicaid, and the OBBB

Most of the nutritional recommendations focused on nutrition and federal levers of food and nutritional support. These included the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and the National School Lunch Program. IFPA called these proven programs that show “that when access improves, consumption increases.”

However, these programs and Medicaid saw steep cuts with the passage of H.R.1 — the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

Van Lieu says it is hard to say what the implications of Medicaid cuts might be for the produce industry at this point. But for SNAP, she says, “I think it’s logical to think that if people have fewer dollars to spend on food, there’s a real chance that fresh produce may be impacted.”

Nonetheless, she says IFPA feels its SNAP- and Medicaid-related recommendations are workable and pragmatic. Still, the association is watching the issue of school meal access in the wake of H.R.1’s passage.

“One of the main implications that we are watching is — because individuals are expected to lose their eligibility for the Medicaid or SNAP programs — what happens in the state structure for how meals are determined.”

Van Lieu explains that in the past decade, eligibility for the school lunch program became tied to SNAP or Medicaid participation.

“If a family qualifies for snap or Medicaid, there’s automatic eligibility for school meals,” she says of many states. “So, there is a concern there about losing access to school meals.”

Grower-focused recommendations

The IFPA recommendations also include produce grower-focused issues.

“To deliver on our shared goal of transforming the American diet, any policy framework must ensure that resources, incentives and regulations are appropriately aligned with the dynamic structure of fresh produce production,” the letter reads.

The recommendations call for increased funding for things like crop protection tools and research funding for specialty crop growers. The OBBB increased funding to programs like this and more, but there’s more that needs to be done according to Sara Neagu Reed, IFPA’s director of production and environmental policy.

“It is vital that the administration continue to utilize the funds appropriated by Congress for these purposes to support work happening at USDA-ARS, and the necessary staffing at EPA-OPP,” she says. “Unfortunately, we’ve had months of uncertainty regarding the continuation of this work both through USDA-NIFA and ARS. Additionally, NIFA has yet to release a Request for Proposals for programs that have been appropriated funds. These funds will be lost if not allocated before the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30).”

In the spirit of continued growth into the future, the last IFPA recommendation deals with regenerative agriculture practices.

Neagu Reed says this recommendation was included to reflect the fresh produce industry’s focus on regenerative ag, something IFPA defines as: “A holistic farming approach that aims to restore and enhance the natural resources of agro-ecosystems while supporting the long-term health and viability of agricultural businesses and communities. The foundation of this farming system is the integrated management of soil health, biodiversity, water resources, human health and climate.”

Some of IFPA’s recommendations for how the federal government could incentivize regenerative ag practices in specialty crop growers include:

Voluntary, incentive-based support that recognizes the diversity of needs that come with the wide variety of specialty crops
Direct financial incentives, such as a federal cost-share system or grant programs, that help offset the costs of transitioning to regenerative practices
Targeted, technical assistance and extension services that involve technical experts who understand the fresh produce industry and the specific crops
Increased funding for research and data collection on regenerative practices as they impact specialty crops specifically

Neagu Reed notes that there are some current programs that could be expanded to support regenerative practices, such as the USDA’s Advancing Markets for Producers (previously called Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities) and NRCS conservation programs.

“These already offer frameworks and funding for soil health, water efficiency and conservation practices,” says Neagu Reed of the NRCS programs. “However, these programs often aren’t tailored enough to the diverse, high-value crops in fresh produce.”

To make those programs more specialty crop-friendly, she says they need to take into account the crop rotation, scale and intensity of specialty crop operations, as well as ensuring program staff are trained in specialty crop systems.

“At the core of the MAHA Commission’s work is the understanding that healthy people need healthy food — and that starts with healthy farms,” Neagu Reed says. “Fresh produce is the most nutrient-dense category in the American diet, but without policies that support the viability and sustainability of growing it, we risk falling short of our national nutrition and health goals.”

IFPA launches new campaign along with recommendations

A day after it issued its recommendations letter, IFPA launched the complementary “ Fresh Produce for a Healthier America ” campaign. According to the association, the D.C.-area digital campaign is “spotlighting fruits and vegetables as nature’s original prescription for better health, lower healthcare costs and longer lives.”

“For too long, fruits and vegetables have been the quiet, essential workhorses of public health,” says IFPA CEO Cathy Burns. “This campaign reminds us of a truth we’ve always known: Nutrition is the foundation of prevention, and produce is an undeniable cornerstone to any wellness plan.”

She continues, saying of the campaign, “This is a call to action to invest in the farmers, programs and policies that make fresh produce accessible and affordable for every American — because you can’t make America healthy again without fruits and vegetables.”

Uber Welcomes New Retailers to Its SNAP EBT Program

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 18:49:14 GMT

Uber Eats brings the arrival of even more grocery and convenience selections for consumers shopping with SNAP benefits across the country.

Wegmans, Gopuff and Family Dollar join a growing list of grocery merchants and convenience retailers accepting SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) payment for purchases made on Uber Eats, according to a news release.

The increasing selection reinforces Uber Eats’ commitment to expanding food accessibility and supporting communities in need. Eligible customers can now use their SNAP EBT benefits to order groceries from participating locations through the Uber Eats app, with payments powered by Forage, the mission-driven payments company. In the months ahead, Uber teams will work to add even more retailers who will accept SNAP EBT payments on Uber Eats orders, including those that are new to Uber Eats, the release says.

“We believe that everyone deserves the convenience of delivery, and with this growing list of merchant partners we can continue to provide access to the fresh food that families and individuals need, especially those without access to reliable transportation for whom food delivery can be a lifeline,” says Hashim Amin, head of grocery and retail delivery for Uber, North America.

“This expansion gives SNAP recipients access to tens of thousands of new stores, from national chains to local grocers, all through the Uber Eats app,” says Ofek Lavian, co-founder and CEO of Forage. “We’re proud to power the technology behind it, helping more families use their benefits with confidence and convenience.”

As Uber Eats continues to innovate and expand its services, the company says it remains dedicated to addressing food insecurity and fostering inclusive communities. This payment option is a vital step in achieving that goal, removing barriers and allowing all people and families to make healthy choices.

The following U.S. retailers now accept SNAP EBT benefits for Uber Eats orders:

7-Eleven
ACME
Albertson’s
Andronico’s
Balducci’s
Cardenas Markets
Carrs
Cub Food
CVS
Dierbergs
Duane Reade
El Rancho
El Super
Fairplay Foods
Family Dollar
Fiesta Mart
Food Bazaar
Food Town
FoodMaxx
Giant Eagle
Gopuff
Harveys Supermarket
Hy-Vee
Jewel Osco
King’s Food Market
Los Altos Ranch Market
Lucky Supermarkets
Market District
Meijer
Morton Williams
Pavilions
Randall’s
Safeway
Save A Lot
SaveMart
Sedano’s
Shaw’s
Shoppers Food Warehouse
Smart & Final
Speedway
Sprouts
Star Market
Stew Leonards
Super King Markets
Superlo Foods
Tom Thumb
Tony’s Fresh Market
Vons
Walgreens
Wegmans
Winn-Dixie

Growing Need Expected in Light of SNAP, Medicaid Cuts

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 19:26:34 GMT

While food recovery operation, Spoonfuls, hasn’t been directly impacted by federal funding cuts, Liz Miller, senior manager of community relations for the New England-based organization, says many of the partner organizations that Spoonfuls supports have.

“Some of our partners have had reduced distributions from their other sources of food because of the cuts to the Emergency Food Assistance Program and to the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreements Program,” she says. “Suddenly, there was less coming out of food banks, and there was less available for our partners, and that just amplified the pressure on Spoonfuls to try to do more.”

Miller says Spoonfuls anticipates that the need will continue to grow, especially with the cuts to SNAP benefits in the reconciliation bill and those proposed by USDA .

“That is not funding cuts to us or to the food pantries that we serve, but it’s funding cuts for the household budgets for all the people that they’re working with,” Miller says. “That really just means that we’re going to have more inquiries coming to us, looking for more fresh product, which is the hardest to come by.”

Miller says while Spoonfuls anticipates there will be a greater need, food insecurity has remained high since the global pandemic with rising costs of food and cost of living.

“Here in Massachusetts, one in six households is facing food insecurity, and it’s higher among households with children,” she says. “We’re already seeing an increased demand. These cuts have not helped. And then with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid cuts coming down the pike, you know that’s just going to affect households’ bottom lines. Food budgets are about to get even tighter.”

Miller calls it a perfect storm of growing need, but a reduction in supports that help those with food insecurity. And, she says, partner organizations that Spoonfuls supports continue to ask for more assistance.

“Suddenly their need increased even more, and not just by funding cuts, but funding cuts that affected food distribution,” she says. “For many partners, it wasn’t a funding cut that hit them, it hit the food bank and then it affected what they were receiving in terms of food coming into their pantry.”

And she suspects the residuals of federal funding cuts, cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will linger for many years.

“There’s the very real impacts to people, to their households, to the bottom lines, and from our perspective, that is a big impact on food security and people’s ability to access the food they need and want,” she says. “There’s a huge economic impact to these cuts as well. And I think from the perspective of farmers, it’s really big, and from the perspective of local retailers, it’s really big. SNAP is an economic driver here in Massachusetts.”

Miller says Massachusetts has a SNAP matching program called the Healthy Incentives Program, which supports the purchase of local products. And many states have similar projects, which will see impacts from a loss of SNAP dollars due to the cuts in the reconciliation bill.

“I think the economic impacts on, like, local businesses, is one that are going to be felt really hard,” she says.

But a bright spot is that so far, Spoonfuls hasn’t seen a reduction in donations from grocers and growers.

She also says Spoonfuls continues to look ahead to try and meet this growing need. This means anything from how to optimize processes, working with retail partners to maximize donations and what the future looks like for Spoonfuls.

And she also says this is an important time to continue to advocate both for the importance of SNAP benefits but also access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The fresh produce industry must continue to share the economic impact of SNAP benefits.

Miller says Spoonfuls has an Advocacy Toolkit available to those interested in helping speak up.

I think a lot of folks are disillusioned right now and just feeling very unheard and don’t feel like raising their voices is worth it,” she says. “But you know, it has to keep happening if you want your issues to be addressed.”

And, of course, she says those in the fresh produce industry can also help support Spoonfuls’ efforts through donations at https://spoonfuls.org/donate.

What’s in the Big Beautiful Bill for Fresh Produce?

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 13:46:28 GMT

House Resolution 1 — also called the reconciliation bill or the “One Big Beautiful Bill” — passed the House on July 3 and was signed the next day by President Donald Trump. The passage was widely praised by agricultural groups as a boon for agriculture and rural America.

“Farm Bureau applauds the House and Senate for passing legislation that will bring certainty to America’s farmers and ranchers,” Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said in a news release. “Modernizing important farm safety net programs and making permanent critical tax provisions could be the difference between staying in business or shutting down the family farm.”

The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) expressed gratitude to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and their chairmen for including investments in specialty crops in the bill.

“Any Congressional investment in American agriculture must include specialty crops,” the alliance said in a news release. “America’s specialty crop growers face a host of unprecedented challenges similar to those confronting row crop producers. Specialty crops represent nearly a quarter of U.S. crop value and make up more than half of what Americans eat. The family farms that provide Americans with a reliable source of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and horticulture, deserve meaningful support from their government.”

Agricultural Tax Cuts Among Steep Funding Slashes

The bill includes extensive tax cuts and funding changes across wide swaths of the federal government. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins described the bill as making the “largest tax cuts in history” permanent.

“It provides immediate tax relief to farmers, ranchers, and rural Americans by increasing the small business expensing threshold and permanently extending the Small Business Deduction,” she said in the USDA’s official announcement on the bill’s signing. She added that the bill “bolsters the farm safety net, makes crop insurance more affordable, and protects two million family farms from the death tax.”

These changes mean many direct benefits to farmers and growers and $66 billion in new spending for farm programs .

But the bill also slashes funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the country’s largest federal nutrition program that serves 42 million people who need help putting food on the table. According to a recent report from the Hass Avocado Board , shoppers using SNAP often buy more and more varied produce than non-SNAP shoppers.

The bill also makes dramatic funding cuts to Medicaid, a program the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) called “a vital source of health insurance coverage for Americans living in rural areas.” In a report issued two weeks before the bill was signed into law , NRHA estimated that roughly 1.5 million rural Americans would lose health coverage if the bill passed, and potentially hundreds of already stressed rural hospitals would close.

What’s in It for Fresh Produce?

Earlier projections of funding increases to programs benefiting specialty crops became a reality in the signing of the bill. These include:

Funding of the Specialty Crop Research Initiative will increase to $175 million a year in 2026.
Funding for the Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention program will increase to $90 million a year in 2026.
Funding for the Specialty Crop Block Grants will increase to $100 million a year in 2026.

This latter element is especially important to the widely varied nature of the fresh produce industry.

“The programs that take place in North Dakota or Idaho will look different than the programs that take place in Florida, but they’re all dedicated to enhancing the specialty crop industry,” says National Potato Council CEO Kam Quarles on the impact of the block grants.

What’s Needed Next?

Though the SCFBA called HR 1’s investments in specialty crop growers a key piece of the puzzle to enhance their competitiveness, the group said there is still work to be done.

“Senate rules prohibited the inclusion of many of the innovative policy initiatives that we proposed, such as investing in mechanization and automation, modernizing procurement rules to include more high-value fruits and vegetables, and reforming crop insurance that would provide many of our growers with an affordable and effective safety net for the first time,” the alliance outlined. SCFBA added that the group looks forward to advancing those and other priorities with Congress in the context of a farm bill.

Unfortunately, the next farm bill might be a while coming yet. Most agricultural economists think the country won’t see a new farm bill until 2026 , with a sizable minority thinking it will take until 2027.

Regardless, there are some indications of what the next farm bill might include. In 2024, the House Agriculture Committee put out resources on a potential farm bill that could indicate the group’s priorities.

In a section focused on specialty crops , it allocated $1 billion to specialty crops needs. Many of the funding level changes outlined in the section have been realized in HR 1. However, it also proposed creating several new programs, including the following:

A new Specialty Crop Mechanization and Automation Research and Extension Program, funded at $20 million annually from the Specialty Crop Research Initiative funding.
Reauthorize the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.
An advisory committee to counsel the Risk Management Agency on crop insurance policy issues of concern to specialty crop growers.

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