Morden, alongside food pantries and food organizations across the Bronx, is staring down devastating cuts to federal food assistance in an already strained borough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to try and meet the gap as best as we can,\u201d Morden said. \u201cBut $186 billion in critical SNAP funding, it\u2019s going to be devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coming cuts<\/p>\n In numbers, last summer\u2019s federal budget includes $186 billion in cuts to SNAP. Trump and Congressional Republicans included the cuts in a slew of budget slashes to make room for trillions in tax cuts. The bill also included cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Affordable Care Act subsidies.<\/p>\n The new SNAP rules expanded work-reporting requirements, restricted benefit-level increases that are currently made based on inflation and rising food costs, and shifted billions in SNAP costs to states. Previously, the federal government covered 100% of SNAP.<\/p>\n Though the cuts have yet to fully take shape, food pantries in the Bronx have already seen moments of high need, such as last November\u2019s federal government shutdown, which halted SNAP benefits across the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is something that happens in cycles and happens over time, whenever there is a federal policy or situation that is affecting people\u2019s access to resources and food, the immediate reaction is we get a lot of people who come to us in confusion and distress,\u201d said Diego Padilla, the director of external relations and communications at Part of the Solution (POTS), a Bronx community organization that has operated a food pantry and soup kitchen for over four decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to providing meals, food pantries look to provide information to the people who walk through their doors. Misinformation about federal benefits runs rampant on social media, Padilla explained, and a key aspect of the work is helping people understand and access the benefits they\u2019re eligible for.<\/p>\n \u201cEither if people are not receiving the SNAP benefits that they\u2019re eligible for, or they are not receiving the right allotment of those SNAP benefits based on our staff\u2019s determination, we can help them through mediation or through application in order to get those SNAP benefits,\u201d said POTS Executive Director Christina Hanson.<\/p>\n Even without the drastic cuts facing Americans who benefit from SNAP, the program has long struggled to meet full need. In a year without historic cuts, food pantries and providers work hard to fill the gaps left by federal assistance.<\/p>\n \u201cSNAP is really the big anti-hunger program,\u201d Hanson said. \u201cAnd then we\u2019re very happy to be here to serve where those gaps are, which do exist. We all know the SNAP program is inefficient.\u201d<\/p>\n The policy battle\n<\/p>\n Joel Berg, the CEO of Hunger Free America (HFA), a nonprofit that studies hunger and advocates for food assistance, said that food pantries can only do so much to meet need, especially when need is so high.\u00a0<\/p>\n Food pantries and soup kitchens are the most visible actors in the battle against hunger, Berg said, but they only have the capacity to provide about 6% of what SNAP benefits offer to New Yorkers.<\/p>\n HFA is a nonpartisan group, but Berg is the first to acknowledge that the best shot at reversing some of the devastating SNAP cuts is if Democrats take back the House and Senate during the fall midterm elections.<\/p>\n Berg said that HFA and other organizations have been in communication with the city and state about developing a \u201ccomprehensive plan\u201d to handle the federal cuts.<\/p>\n In October 2025, Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a> announced that the state would be fast-tracking $30 million in state funds to mitigate some of the impact of the SNAP changes, which began taking place on Nov. 1, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n The City Council<\/a> focused on partnerships with Bronx-based food organizations in the wake of the initial cuts, wkathorking with City Harvest and Food Bank for New York City to increase food supply to high-SNAP-use neighborhoods and coordinate additional distributions for federal workers, seniors, and SNAP recipients impacted by the shutdown.<\/p>\n Berg said that the future of food assistance in the United States, and in high-need areas like the Bronx, is uncertain. With cuts to a federal program that already struggles to meet need, things have gone from \u201cbad to worse and worse to worser,\u201d Berg said.<\/p>\n Food pantries and direct aid organizations are important actors in the fight against hunger, Berg said, but at the end of the day, if the cost of living keeps skyrocketing and people are struggling to afford rent and healthcare, the food insecurity crisis in the Bronx and in New York City will only compound.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meeting the gap\n<\/p>\n For food pantries and providers across the city, the gaps were already widening before SNAP cuts took effect. The cost of living in New York City is skyrocketing<\/a>, and increasing income inequality across the five boroughs \u2014 particularly in the Bronx \u2014 has worsened food insecurity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are looking at what the ballooning need will be, not just from SNAP cuts, but from cuts to health care and other federal subsidies that people get, because that is going to contribute to food insecurity in general,\u201d Morden said.<\/p>\n City Harvest and POTS work together to ensure that healthy, fresh food gets where it needs to go. In addition to providing meals, food pantries and community centers like POTS work to offer their clients food choice and high-quality options.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/shea-hunger-story-.jpg\")
The Bronx has the highest deli-to-supermarket disparity across the five boroughs. In some neighborhoods, bodegas and delis outnumber supermarkets<\/a> 25-1. Photo by Jonathan Portee<\/p>\n