A safety net for the the safety net: A letter from Spoonfuls' Founder & CEO, Ashley Stanley
A month into the shutdown, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, our community is standing on a cliff. Later this week, more than 1 million neighbors across the Commonwealth (and over 40 million across the country), will lose their SNAP benefits, which the federal government failed to fund earlier this month. This is un-American, and unnecessary.
The impacts of the last nine months of policy changes and funding cuts have created ripple effects that have left, and will leave, our communities in dire straits. The emergency food system (your local pantries, meal programs, veterans centers, and others which Spoonfuls partners with) is currently bracing for an onslaught of need as so many of our neighbors, just getting by with SNAP benefits before, will be forced to turn to these programs for food to feed themselves and their families. Our partner pantries are telling us that they anticipate longer lines and emptier shelves.
Spoonfuls is a safety net for the safety net. Here, we have always risen to meet the many moments that have impacted our neighbors, our state, the world, and our food system over the last 15 years, and we are doing that again now. Recently, we’ve worked to extend our service area to include 28 new food recovery partners in and around gateway cities in Merrimack Valley, Essex County, Bristol County and beyond, while working to recover and distribute as much fresh, wholesome food as possible in other parts of the state.
We’re staying informed by our partners and staying responsive to this rapidly changing environment. We continue to make the most of every mile and minute.
People need food now. Children, their parents, grandparents, our neighbors, can’t wait to eat. It isn’t an option. And so, too, we need your help, now. We are committed to staying on the road and doing what’s needed to support our community. We will remain a safety net. And by continuing to support our work, we can keep doing more. We have to.
Ways to take action now
- Give to Spoonfuls. As you read here, Spoonfuls’ work becomes ever more urgent whenever emergency food programs are stretched to capacity, as they are right now. Make a gift today.
- Give to your local emergency food programs. While pantries and food banks often welcome food donations, funds enable them to purchase the food they need to meet people’s dietary and cultural needs and preferences. Consider supporting Spoonfuls’ partners.
- Reach out to your members of Congress. Urge them to pressure the Administration to take immediate action to fully fund SNAP for the month of November, to make use of USDA emergency funds for the purpose they were intended. This is an emergency! Find your representatives.
- Reach out to the Governor. If the federal government fails to take swift action to restore SNAP funds for November, Massachusetts has an opportunity to use state resources to support – for example, making use of its “Rainy Day Fund,” estimated at $8 billion, to fund SNAP for November. Contact Governor Healey.
- Stay up on the latest. Stay tuned to Spoonfuls’ social media (@spoonfulsfoodrecovery on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn) and our Breaking Through the Noise blog to understand the ways federal policy is impacting Massachusetts’ food system and our neighbors — and what you can do about it.
