Alejandra Ruiz, left, and Marta Martinez with her six-month-old son, Emmanuel Romero, pick up groceries at a food distribution at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
As the federal government shutdown drags on, nearly 3.5 million Texans — including hundreds of thousands in Central Texas — could lose access to food assistance when SNAP funding runs out Saturday.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, provides monthly grocery benefits to low-income households. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned that benefits will stop at the start of November unless Congress restores funding — the first time in the program’s six-decade history that payments would completely halt.
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The shutdown, largely triggered by a dispute over health care subsidies, is now rippling through key federal programs, putting millions of families at risk of hunger.
“Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01,” the USDA states on its website.
Local food banks are bracing for a surge in demand. The Central Texas Food Bank, an Austin-based hunger-relief nonprofit that serves 21 counties, and its 250 partner agencies are preparing to feed thousands more families if SNAP benefits stop.
Food banks bear the burden
El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission food pantry coordinator Rosa Carroll gets ready for a food distribution event on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
The Central Texas Food Bank anticipated a SNAP funding crisis even before the USDA made its announcement. The organization prepared for a similar situation during the 2018 government shutdown, when the program was narrowly rescued by $3 billion in contingency funds and early benefit disbursements.
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Rosa Carroll, food pantry coordinator at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission, works at a food distribution event on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Gabriel Trichell picks up groceries at a food distribution at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Volunteers Holly Herstad and her daughter Anna, 16, prepare food kits at a distribution event at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Volunteer Ron Bolek works at a food distribution event at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Volunteers Ron Bolek and Pilar Franco work at a food distribution event at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Anita McAllister waits in her car at a food distribution event at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Volunteer Len Moser prepares food kits for at a distribution event at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
With that close call in mind, the food bank began preparing weeks ago when the latest shutdown began. It added new distribution sites in areas with high SNAP enrollment and increased the amount of food sent to existing locations.
“We’re trying to dispel myths, we’re trying to inform our partner agencies, we are trying to increase the amount of food that we provide and we are trying to increase the number of distributions,” said Sari Vatske, food bank president and CEO.
Normally, food distributions happen early in the day, but Vatske said the organization has added nighttime options to reach more people.
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Across the food bank’s service area, 270,000 people qualify for SNAP subsidies, Vatske said. In Travis, Hays and Williamson counties alone, more than 130,000 people — including 65,000 children — depend on the program, according to the latest Texas Health and Human Services Commission data.
SNAP can be used to buy groceries, including produce, meat, dairy, grains, snacks and seeds for growing food.
The Central Texas Food Bank and its partners typically serve about 90,000 people each week, roughly 30% of whom receive SNAP. Vatske said demand from those households is already climbing and will likely surge after this week.
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“We’ve already started to see an uptick, but the first week that people will lose their benefits is Nov. 1, so we anticipate we’ll start to see the mass increase starting Monday,” Vatske said. “Not only will we see additional people, but we’ll see them more frequently.”
Mind the gap
Volunteers Pilar Franco and Ron Bolek work at a food distribution event at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
More than $24 million in SNAP benefits are distributed in the Austin area each month, according to state data. Across the Central Texas Food Bank’s service area, that total climbs to about $44 million — an average of roughly $350 per household.
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Without SNAP, families will turn to food pantries for help. But covering that shortfall, Vatske said, is impossible.
“There is no way that the food bank can make up for that kind of money lost,” Vatske said. “The food bank alone, no matter how much we fundraise, cannot make up for $44 million a month. We absolutely need the government to reopen.”
Typically, food banks across Texas and the country rely on one another during local crises such as hurricanes or floods. But a nationwide SNAP halt would leave every region facing the same challenge.
“For a government shutdown, we’re all in the same boat,” Vatske said. “Every service area has to figure it out for themselves.”
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The Central Texas Food Bank spent about $1.1 million per month on food purchases last year, a figure that rose to $1.3 million per month this year. Now, Vatske said, the organization is budgeting $1 million per week — roughly $4 million a month — to meet demand until the shutdown ends.
That rapid escalation isn’t sustainable, she said.
H-E-B announced Oct. 24 it would donate $5 million to the Feeding Texas network and $1 million to Meals on Wheels programs across the state.The Central Texas Food Bank will receive $700,000 from that donation — enough to ease the strain but not erase it.
“We will definitely need monetary donations to be able to provide as much food as possible, and we will need volunteer support to assist at these additional distributions as well,” Vatske said. “Every dollar equals three meals, so we can do more with economies of scale and stretch our purchasing power with those dollars that are donated.”
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SNAP under siege
Ana Maria Cooke, a community health navigator at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission, checks in people at a food distribution event on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
SNAP needs about $9.2 billion to continue providing benefits nationwide in November — money the Trump administration says it cannot allocate while the government remains shut down, which began Oct. 1.
The program has never faced a full nationwide halt before, though it has come close. During the first Trump administration, a 35-day shutdown from late 2018 into early 2019 — the longest in U.S. history — nearly drained SNAP’s funding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture managed to keep benefits flowing by using $3 billion in contingency funds and disbursing payments early.
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That record will be broken if the current shutdown lasts until Nov. 6.
The USDA still has $5.5 billion in contingency funds for SNAP, but this time, the Trump administration has said it will not use them. A USDA memo released Oct. 24 stated that the reserves are legally designated for emergencies such as natural disasters and are “not legally available to cover regular benefits.”
A group of Democratic-led states have sued the Trump administration, arguing that withholding the funds violates federal spending laws. They contend that the money was approved by Congress and should be used to prevent a lapse in benefits.
If the shutdown continues, it would mark a historic first for the nation’s largest anti-hunger program — ending benefits that have fed millions of Americans for more than six decades.
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What is SNAP?
Milton Lopez, a community health navigator at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Mission, assists a woman trying to renew her SNAP benefits on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. The federal government shutdown has exhausted funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, threatening food security for thousands of Central Texans.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
SNAP began in 1939 as the Food Stamp Program, allowing people to buy stamps for food, including surplus farm goods. Congress created the modern version in 1964 under President Lyndon B. Johnson and replaced paper stamps with electronic cards in the 1980s. The 2008 Farm Bill renamed it the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and expanded eligibility and rules for recipients and retailers.
Today, SNAP provides monthly benefits through an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card that works like a debit card at most grocery stores. Eligibility depends on income and household size. In Texas, limits range from $2,152 a month for one person to $7,446 for a family of eight, with $757 added per person after that.
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Most adults ages 16 to 59 must meet work requirements. Adults 18 to 54 without children generally face a three-month limit on benefits unless they work or participate in job training. Pregnant people, older adults and those with disabilities may qualify for simplified applications and longer benefit periods.
Texans can apply for or renew benefits at YourTexasBenefits.com.