As the federal government shutdown stretches into its fourth week, uncertainty looms over food assistance for millions of Americans.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on its website that federal food assistance will be suspended starting Nov. 1, escalating concerns for families as the government shutdown continues.
The statement follows the Trump administration’s decision not to use approximately $5 billion in reserve funds to sustain payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into November. SNAP, which supports roughly one in eight Americans in purchasing food, will therefore see benefits halted.
“The bottom line is that the resources have been exhausted,” the USDA notice read. “As of now, no benefits will be distributed on Nov. 1. We are reaching a critical juncture for Senate Democrats.”
SNAP serves nearly 42 million Americans each month, allocating funds to states on a rolling basis. Benefits for October were distributed before the shutdown began on Oct. 1, allowing households to access their usual aid.
But with the Nov. 1 allocation in jeopardy, local organizations on the North Shore are preparing for what could be a surge in need.
Gov. Maura Healey said during a briefing last Friday at Nubian Markets in Roxbury, “President Trump has chosen to take away food from people all around this country.”
She continued, “That’s going to mean that 1 million people in Massachusetts are not going to have their food benefits starting next week.”
In a press release from her office, Healey said, “More than 1.1 million Massachusetts residents rely on SNAP to afford food – 32% are children, 26% are seniors, and 31% are people with disabilities. Local businesses and farmers also get business through the program.”
Between 2017 and 2021, about 15% of Essex County households received SNAP benefits — higher than both the state (12%) and national (11%) averages. In Marblehead, between 2017 and 2021, roughly 488 people were relying on food assistance, according to Impact Essex County.
In July of 2021, the Massachusetts Council on Ageing published a document that stated the average SNAP benefit amounts for single adults 60 years old and above living alone was 195 people in Marblehead.
For these families, even a short disruption could mean empty pantries and difficult choices between groceries and other essentials.
At the Marblehead Food Pantry, Chair Marcy Schwam said they are already seeing an unprecedented number of visitors as concerns about the potential SNAP halt grow.
“For our Tuesday distribution, we had the largest number of people we’ve ever had on a Tuesday morning,” Schwam said. “We registered a number of new clients, and people are definitely concerned. It was a very steady, anxious group of residents.”
More than 50 people came through that morning — a record for the small pantry, which serves local families each week. Schwam noted that many residents who don’t typically rely on the pantry are returning out of concern their SNAP benefits will not arrive on Nov. 1.
“We tend to see an increase toward the end of each month as people reach the end of their SNAP allotment,” she explained. “But knowing that their deposit may not go onto their card this weekend, they came early — and I expect we’ll see the same thing again on Thursday.”
To prepare for a potential surge, the pantry has added volunteers to help sign in and register clients more efficiently. They’ve also added a new “soup table” outside the pantry for the entire month of November, where anyone can take an unlimited number of canned soups without it counting toward their regular allotment.
Schwam said the pantry’s regular system provides one bag of groceries per week for smaller families and two bags for larger households, with certain items limited by quantity. But with donations and volunteers increasing, they’re doing what they can to stretch supplies.
“Our food pantry is not government funded — it’s completely community funded,” Schwam emphasized. “That means we can’t accept expired or dented cans because we follow local Board of Health regulations, not state or federal ones. Everything we do relies on the goodness of the community.”
She credited Marblehead residents, schools, local businesses, and religious organizations for stepping up in recent weeks.
“The community has truly been ramping up donations,” she said. “Monetary contributions have been extremely plentiful and rewarding — they help us restock items we run out of. It’s been heartwarming to see.”
Still, Schwam said the uncertainty surrounding the shutdown is troubling for many families, especially seniors and those on fixed incomes.
“When you look at older residents trying to stretch a pension or Social Security check — with health care and heating costs going up — and then you take away food assistance, you’re stretching that dollar as far as it can go,” she said.
For more information or to support the pantry, Schwam said residents can visit marbleheadfoodpantry.org or email info@marbleheadfoodpantry.org.
Director of Communications, Marketing & Public Relations, Heather MacFarlane of the Massachusetts division of The Salvation Army said, “As the nation’s largest nongovernmental provider of social services, we will do everything within our capacity to love and serve families and individuals in need.”
She added, “Significant changes in either could impact our ability to serve nearly 28 million people in the U.S. who seek access to food, shelter, or other necessities each year.”
MacFarlane added that across the country, The Salvation Army has seen needs shift and increase over the last few years and anticipates that demand will continue to increase through the end of 2025 and into 2026.
“Locally, we have an emergency food pantry that receives limited-to-no government funding, and we provide critical social services. In the upcoming months, we are preparing to help those who need heating assistance, warm winter coats, and seasonal assistance,” she said.
The Salvation Army’s capacity to provide services at nearly 7,400 centers of operation across the U.S. relies heavily on the generosity of the American public and the support of government funds.
“We encourage anyone who is able to support The Salvation Army and our fellow community nonprofit partners to do so, helping ensure we can continue providing life-changing services to our neighbors in need. Please visit salvationarmyma.org/lynn for more information about our work,” she added.
At food pantries across the North Shore, leaders say they are monitoring the situation closely and readying themselves as best they can — despite already strained resources.
“This is always our busiest time of year,” said Kia Fernandes, marketing and communications manager at The Salem Food Pantry. “We’re expecting even more of a need this year, so we’re definitely bracing for it.”
Fernandez said the organization is urging residents to stay current on their SNAP paperwork in case the issue is resolved quickly.
“We’re advising people to continue to apply and make sure their accounts are in check,” she said. “Resources have been really thin this year, but with community support, we’re doing everything we can to help everyone through the holiday season.”
The Salem Pantry operates both a storefront in downtown Salem and mobile pop-up pantries across the North Shore — including in Lynn, Swampscott, and Beverly — to meet families where they are. Fernandes said monetary donations are the most effective way for residents to help, as they allow the pantry to purchase food in bulk and fill critical gaps quickly.
Smaller pantries, including those in Marblehead and Swampscott, may have less flexibility but are nonetheless coordinating with larger partners. The Anchor Pantry in Swampscott and Catholic Charities’ Phoenix Food Hub in Lynn are among the local organizations preparing to support families in the event of benefit delays.
Suzanne Hale, board president of SPUR, a local nonprofit, said a lot of the changes “that have or were going to happen already happened when the initial funding for USDA happened early on in the change of administration.”
Hale, who is also a board member of Anchor Food Pantry in Swampscott, said the pantry buys in bulk from the Boston Food Bank, so any monetary donations will go the longest way for people in need.
