One out of every eleven people who live in Virginia are helped by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program— hundreds of thousands of children and seniors who are at a growing risk of hunger.
That's why the Department of Agriculture needs to dip into its contingency fund, says Virginia Poverty Law Center attorney Cassie Edner.
"USDA could use it as a stopgap to prevent this huge source of what could be food insecurity for people while the government figures out what to do with the shutdown and figures out how not to harm the most vulnerable people," Edner says
Many Virginia jurisdictions have already started notifying SNAP recipients that November benefits might be affected if the shutdown continues.
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture has the legal authority and arguably the legal requirement to keep as much benefits as they can going in November," says Commonwealth Institute research director Levi Goren. "It would be a choice to cut off all benefits on November 1, and that's a choice they should not make."
For almost half a million families in Virginia that rely on this program, it’s a choice that could mean having three square meals or going hungry.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
