Matson, CCO of GCFD: “We just got a really dark preview of the crisis to come when additional people are removed from SNAP long-term”
The government shutdown gave a “dark preview” of what could happen when changes to SNAP eligibility requirements take effect next year, removing millions.
Some 42 million Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to help them put food on the table. However, roughly 2 million of them are forecast to lose those benefits when changes to the eligibility requirements for the program, passed as part of the Republican-led legislation known as the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’, take effect next year.
The government shutdown, which saw SNAP payments frozen at the beginning of November, gave “a really dark preview of the crisis to come,” according to Camerin Mattson, communications manager for the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD).
Government shutdown canary in the coalmine for future SNAP crisis
SNAP benefits are placed onto an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card which recipients can use like a debit card to purchase nutritious food at shops around their communities. However, when SNAP payments didn’t go out at the beginning of November, families across the country, and even some military families living abroad, were forced to seek out food banks to fill the gap.
Not waste: Giving low-income people an average of $6/day to buy food.
— Katie Bergh (@Katie_Bergh) November 17, 2025
Absolutely waste: Arbitrarily making states redo the paperwork to prove 42 million people still qualify for that $6 when SNAP participants already have to recertify eligibility (usually every 6 or 12 months.) https://t.co/hGXcNA5NRx
That disruption in payments, Mattson told The Daily Northwestern, showed “how vital SNAP is to our neighbors and what an essential lifeline it is.”
“We just got a really dark preview of the crisis to come when additional people are removed from SNAP long-term,” she added. “For every meal we provide now, SNAP provides nine. That tells you how big this program is and shows that it’s designed to be our front-line defense against hunger.”
Ashli Wade, the associate director of development-community engagement at Connections for the Homeless, told the news outlet that her organization saw the number of people visiting its food pantries skyrocket from roughly 50 per week to as many as 70 per day.
While recipients of SNAP benefits in Illinois should have received their full payment for the month by now, Wade said that Connections is stocking up its food pantry “no matter what,” in light of the uncertain future.
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