The recent government shutdown suspended the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, at the beginning of this month, and kept millions of Americans from receiving their food benefits. On Nov. 7, Vermont issued residents of that state the benefits they were owed for the first half of the month. Despite this, federal interference with food aid has still been felt in Bennington.
Scott Winslow, Food Security Coordinator at Greater Bennington Community Services, which provides free food three days a week, said that the delay in SNAP payments made an already dire situation worse. According to Winslow, who has worked at GBCS for five years, 600-700 people in Bennington County access food pantries. GBCS is the region’s biggest pantry, serving 200-300 shoppers a week. In September and October of this year, the pantry witnessed a record number of visitors.
The increase in demand has been very tangible for Winslow. Speaking at Harvest Solutions on October 25, a panel discussion on food insecurity at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse in Bennington, he noted that over the last two years, “the number of shoppers has increased 2 1⁄2 times and the cost of the food to feed those people has increased three times.”
Despite the efforts of GBCS and other local organizations, food insecurity in Bennington is more difficult to handle than ever before, Winslow expressed. Noting that while small donations are happily accepted, they aren’t enough to meet this new demand: “I’m getting seven pallets from the Vermont Foodbank every two weeks and you know we need food by the pallet in this case, not in individual donations.”
The food pantry at Sacred Heart Saint Francis DeSales church in Bennington has also experienced significant growth in patrons. Deirdre Ryan, who has been a volunteer there for five years, said that she’s observed a consistent increase in shoppers since the Spring. This past Wednesday the pantry served 76 families, twice as many as they received during a typical Wednesday during COVID. “We’re getting people who have never been to a food pantry before,” Ryan shared.
Ryan cited the policies of the Trump administration as the primary reason for this rise in numbers. In April, the Department of Agriculture reduced funding for food banks and food assistance programs. As a result, the Vermont Food Bank lost 20% of their funding, and had to lay off 10% of their staff. Although Sacred Heart receives all its food via donations, these cutbacks have still had a trickle down effect on the pantry.
Ryan also noted that the people most affected by this exacerbated food insecurity are already marginalized populations–immigrants and the homeless community. “A lot of immigrant families were disqualified from getting SNAP over the last couple months,” she explained.
The shutdown meant that 5,000 people in Bennington county did not receive SNAP benefits at the beginning of the month. In the last week of October, GBCS received 50% more shoppers than usual. Winslow is pleased that, thanks to the work of advocacy groups like Hunger Free Vermont and the Vermont Food Bank, the state stepped in. But he also acknowledged that this is not sustainable: “Vermont doesn’t have 12 million dollars a month to backfill those SNAP benefits.”
Bennington’s food security network has been trying to find ways to collaborate and help more people in Bennington. However, this is difficult when these organizations are already working at capacity. Winslow advised Vermonters who want to help to call government officials and ask them to resume SNAP and expand its scope; give money to food programs rather than donating items or running food drives; and volunteer.
However, should federal funding be disrupted again, this will not be enough. 7 of the 12 million in food benefits was meant for Bennington County, and there’s no way to raise that amount of money at the local level. “SNAP is the most efficient and dignified food assistance program that we have,” said Winslow, “shoppers get to go to the store of their choice at the time of their choice. The supermarkets are set up to handle the number of people and the amount of food more efficiently–little pantries aren’t designed to do that.”
Ryan expressed that even if SNAP is fully funded, Americans, including those in Bennington, will still be facing an affordability crisis. Many of the people who visit the Sacred Heart pantry have jobs, and as Ryan expounded, “it’s just very hard for people to make a living wage where they can have health insurance, where they can afford decent meals and take care of themselves.”
Greater Bennington Community Services’ Kitchen Cupboard is located on 121 Depot Street and is open Tuesday 3:30pm to 6:30pm, Thursday 10am to 6pm, and Saturday 10am to 12pm.
Sacred Heart Saint Francis DeSales is located on 238 Main St, and its food pantry is open Wednesdays 1:00pm to 3:30 pm and Fridays 10:00 am to 11:30 am.
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