"Stretched to the breaking point": SNAP cuts spook food banks
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Reductions to federal food assistance in President Trump's recently signed "big, beautiful bill" will further widen a gap that many in an overextended hunger relief network say will be impossible to fill.
The big picture: With millions of food-insecure people projected to be cut from benefits, food banks and pantries across the U.S. are bracing for the impact and already working to rally community support to continue serving those in need.
What they're saying: Vince Hall, Feeding America's chief government relations officer, told Axios that the nonprofit's food banking system generated nearly 6 billion meals last year.
- Feeding America estimates that provisions affecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) alone could eliminate the equivalent of some 6 to 9 billion meals annually.
- Those program reductions, he said, would mean that Feeding America's network of more than 200 food banks and 60,000 faith-based and charitable partners would have to "essentially more than double" its amount of food distributed to fill the predicted hole.
- "That's simply not possible," Hall said. Still, he added the network is "going to do everything within our power to ensure that every neighbor in need gets served" via reach-outs to donors, community leaders, farmers and lawmakers.
By the numbers: SNAP, which aids over 40 million Americans, provides roughly nine meals for every one supplied by Feeding America food banks.
The other side: White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Axios in a statement that the legislation restores "commonsense work requirements to SNAP for able-bodied recipients to work, volunteer, or take classes for 20 hours per week."
Context: The benefit changes come as more Americans are going hungry.
- In May, 15.6% of adults were food insecure, almost double the rate in 2021, according to recent Morning Consult data.
- From April 2024 to April 2025, more than half of food banks surveyed by Feeding America reported seeing an increase in the number of people served.
"Food banks are stretched literally to the breaking point," Hall told Axios.
- While some safety net cuts in the legislation don't take effect for years, others are more imminent, and Hall predicts food banks will see an "immediate increase" in demand as a result.
- Other food bank leaders who spoke to Axios cited stress from the U.S. Agriculture Department's cuts as another challenge to meeting demand.
Zoom in: In 2019, the food pantries and soup kitchens that New York City's City Harvest serves saw some 25 million visits, CEO Jilly Stephens told Axios. Last year, they saw more than 46 million — a record high.
- Long food bank lines were once symbolic of pandemic strain. But "they haven't gone away," Stephens said. In fact, "they've grown, but they're somehow less visible."
- "We already exist to fill in the gap that's left after government programs," she said. "Now, we're looking at a yawning hole of need, and we have no hope of filling that in, but we will do everything we can."
Zoom out: Catherine D'Amato, the president and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank, said they'll have to turn to philanthropic partners amid spiking demand.
- But she added that the impact of reduced support will be visible over time, and "the states can't make it up, and neither can philanthropy."
The bottom line: "What we do will never replace SNAP, and we know that," said Evan Ehlers, the founder and CEO of food rescue organization Sharing Excess.
- Food rescue — the process of recovering and redistributing surplus food —is more critical now than ever, he said.
- "But as the current system stands, we cannot tomorrow just slip a switch and provide all of this food to communities that need it," he said.
Go deeper: "Big, beautiful bill" pushes millions of people away from social safety net
