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'I've never seen it this bad.' Georgia food systems strain under shutdown pressure
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LISTEN: This week, the ongoing federal government shutdown officially became the longest in our nation’s history. Safety net programs like those that help people afford food have lost federal funding, putting strain on Georgians who depend on the help — and those helping. GPB's Sarah Kallis, Sofi Gratas and Grant Blankenship report.
This week, the ongoing federal government shutdown officially became the longest in our nation’s history.
As it’s gone on, safety net programs, such as those that help people afford food, have lost federal funding, putting strain on Georgians who depend on the help.
Monthly benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program were officially paused on Nov. 1. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and without a decision on the federal budget, those funds can’t be disbursed.
The Georgia Department of Human Services said in a statement that SNAP recipients can still redeem the benefits on their EBT cards left over from the previous month. The agency could not provide an update by deadline on when Georgia's share of the SNAP contingency funds — which a pair of federal judges told the Trump administration it must release — might arrive.
Around the state, people who rely on SNAP to feed themselves and others are managing this new reality.
In Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood on a recent Monday, Karen Stewart walked to the new low-cost market to spend the last of this month’s EBT card balance.
Stewart receives $23 a month from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which she says is hard to stretch, but it helps.
“That $23 made a big difference; it didn't have to come out of my pocket,” Stewart said.
Stewart said that she’s trying to cut back on other spending as much as she can, now that more money for food needs to come out of her pocket. While November SNAP benefits have been promised, most recipients are expected to get half of what they normally would.
During this time Stewart said she’ll also rely on food pantries, like the one at Ebenezer Baptist Church where Sen. Raphael Warnock is pastor. On the same day that Warnock visited the Goodr Grocery Store, Stewart was shopping at, she said leaders like him need to fix this.
“People are hurting, and that they need to try to come to some agreement as quickly as possible, because a whole lot of people are hurtin' a lot worse than I am,” she said.
In rural Jefferson, just outside Athens, Bernice Jackson loaded dry goods into paper bags, including pasta, canned fruit, and toilet paper.
The pantry at First Baptist Church is open only two days a week for a couple hours a time. But lately, Jackson said, supply cannot keep up with demand.
“I've been at this food bank two years,” she said. She’s worked at others for longer. “I've never seen it this bad.”
In the pantry’s storage area, where there would normally be piles of donations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the wood pallets are empty. Jackson said the paper bags they give out to people have been lighter than normal.
“Which isn't good, because that's supposed to last a month,” she said.
Small pantries like this rely on donations from regional food banks that get federal money, and from retailers. Here, volunteers say the nearby Publix plays a big role.
But Jackson says 75% of First Baptist’s supply for the winter actually comes from an annual Thanksgiving food drive. Jackson says if people want to help, that’s the time to do it.
“If it wouldn't be for them, sometimes I wouldn't have food,” said Timothy Williamson, a pantry regular who lives down the street.
On a sunny Monday afternoon, Williamson loads two bags into his car. He’ll sort out the supplies at home, and split them with his mom, who normally gets $125 a month in SNAP benefits. As of the start of the month, she had not received any.
“You know, I will help out as much as I can with me and my sister and with the churches,” Williamson said. "They'll help out, but that's not enough."
He’s worried about whether an ongoing government shutdown will affect her monthly disability check, too.
Middle Georgia Community Food Bank CEO Kathy McCollum said even in normal times, about a quarter of the people in Macon struggle with hunger. And now comes a November without the normal share of SNAP benefits.
“Somebody asked me the other day, 'So what are you doing to prepare for this?'” McCollum said. “And I said, ‘I would need seven warehouses like this full of food.’”
During a press conference to announce a $150,000 donation from the Macon-Bibb County government to the food bank, most of the shelves at the Middle Georgia food bank were bare and shipping pallets were few at the loading dock.
McCollum said many in the community are aware of what they’re facing. And while she appreciates the proceeds from the food drives popping up around town, it does require her staff to sort through donations, and sometimes what’s received won’t work for people with diabetes or other health issues.
“So the fastest way for us to be able to help is to be to take dollars that are donated to us, spend that at wholesale prices on large quantities of food,” McCullum said. “And we know what we're out of.
McCollum said lately they’ve been out of staples like peanut butter and pasta. The $22,000 dollars she just spent on spaghetti noodles might keep enough of that around to make it to December.
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