In late October, roughly 77,000 Montanans found out that their main source of food aid for the next month wasn’t coming. At the start of November, more than $13 million in federal nutrition assistance allocations was slated to replenish accounts of Montanans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. The federal government shutdown brought the flow of benefits to an abrupt halt.
While such federal budget hiatuses have occurred before, the decision by President Donald Trump’s administration not to tap into emergency reserves to distribute SNAP benefits to more than 41 million Americans defied precedent. Federal authorities have leveraged other ways to fund the program during past shutdowns. This time was different.
In Montana, where state government officials opted not to backfill benefits like some other states did, families went without their typical food aid for roughly two weeks. Partial benefits trickled onto Montanans’ EBT cards on Nov. 9, at the order of federal judges. After the shutdown ended on Nov. 12, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services promised to backfill the rest of the month’s benefits. But ultimately the delay in funds has had a cascading effect on low-income Montanans’ budgets, anti-hunger advocates told Montana Free Press, revealing just how close to the margins many are living.
“It’s great that benefits are being backfilled. However, our communities still experienced significant harm and hunger,” said Kiera Condon, advocacy specialist with the Montana Food Bank Network, the umbrella organization for more than 300 food pantries and distribution sites across the state, noting that SNAP benefits can’t be used to pay for rent or other essentials. “We just really hope that something like this never happens again.”
MTFP asked Montanans to share how they were navigating the temporary lapse in food aid. We heard back from nearly 20 people during the first two weeks of November, before they knew when benefits would restart.
Here’s some of what they told us.
Broccoli and french fries on Christy York’s kitchen table in mid-November. Credit: Christy York
Name: Christy York, 48
Town: Great Falls
Household: Three children, ages 10, 16 and 17
Typical SNAP allocation: Roughly $600
Impact of food aid freeze:
“Before this mess happened, I was working on saving money because my Jeep needs work … [Now] the money I was saving to get my car worked on, gone. Just gone.”
“When they took the groceries, that just put the nail in the proverbial coffin.”
“I’m down to my last $30 bucks.”
Message for lawmakers:
“I get that both sides of the fence are all mad at each other, but I don’t really care. Because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
We asked: How are you planning to meet your monthly food needs in November?
“It’ll end up coming out of my paycheck. Which then, in return, ends up affecting the roof over mine and my children’s heads. And it just snowballs and snowballs.”
K.A.*, Butte
“[Getting a partial SNAP payment] was great, and I so appreciate it, but the money that we had put aside to pay for things, like keeping our motor home warm and fuel and stuff, that had already been spent. You don’t get that back.”
Eileen Pryor, Troy
“Food is more of a necessity than therapy if we get down to things.”
Amber Peden, Helena
Frozen meat donated to Debra Bear in November. Credit: Debra Bear
Name: Debra Bear, 65
Town: Poplar
Household: Daughter, 48, and granddaughter, 7
Typical SNAP allocation: Roughly $270
Impact of food aid freeze:
“Our pastor brought us over some meat.”
“When I saw $98 [in partial benefits], I thought, ‘Well, that’s better than nothing.’”
“Really, God brought me through.”
Strategy for shopping on a tight budget:
“Whenever something’s on sale, buy it in bulk.”
We asked: How did you get by on food during the freeze?
“[My pastor] goes on a run every two weeks [to a donation center in Great Falls] … It’s all frozen, and it’s pretty outdated by about 10 days, maybe or seven days, but it’s still good. Lots of hamburger. Lots of chicken.”
Debra Bear, Poplar
“[Pasta] at the store, it was 60 cents a box. I went and got about 40 bucks worth of pasta … Lots of pasta. Lots of rice.”
Christy York, Great Falls
“It was bread, milk, eggs, peanut butter. Like, really good staples that you need … They had a thing of pancake mix in [the donation box]. They had flour.”
K.A.*, Butte
One of Amber Peden’s children slices limes donated from the Helena Food Share to go with a dinner of spinach and cheese quesadillas. Credit: Amber Peden
Squash donated to Amber Peden from neighbors garden during the government shut down is seen in November. Credit: Amber Peden
Name: Amber Peden, 41
Town: Helena
Household: Three children, ages 11, 13 and 17
Typical SNAP allocation: Roughly $900
Impact of food aid freeze:
“We have a family meeting every Friday. I just told the kids our food budget is going to be a lot less this month … I had them each tell me one thing they couldn’t live without, food-wise. And I told them, ‘I’ll make sure you have that one thing, and then here’s what we need for nutrition.’”
“I feel like I’m playing a week-by-week food game. I tend to like to think long term but that’s not really what is available right at this moment.”
“We’re not sure that we’ll be able to visit family over Christmas.”
Budget saving hacks:
“Folks that do have gardens that know that we’re on a tight budget will usually offer us some of what they’re growing … That’s really cool when they think of me.”
“[I asked the kids] ‘What do you have that you don’t need or no longer play with? What do we have in storage that you’re no longer using?’ … I posted those things to sell [on Facebook Marketplace.]”
We asked: How else have you considered making ends meet?
Trading goods with neighbors.
Grocery shopping online to compare prices.
Digging into the back of the pantry.
Looking for food giveaways at local nonprofits.
Skipping meals so the kids have more.
Canceling health care appointments.
Making bread at home.
Selling plasma for money.
Applying for new jobs.
Uptown Butte is pictured in March of 2020. Credit: Tracy / Flickr
Name: K.A.*
Town: Butte
Household: Four children, ages 4, 4, 8 and 10
Typical SNAP allocation: Roughly $900
Impact of food aid freeze:
“We were going into the weekend and I didn’t have any food for my kids [because] I had already spent the money I had for rent on groceries, and we were out [of food]. I mean, my kids are all growing. And unfortunately, a decent amount of money doesn’t seem to go very far when it comes to groceries anymore.”
“My 10-year-old is, to an extent, very understanding and is very mature for her age … they shouldn’t have to understand that. It’s not their responsibility. Children are supposed to be raised sweet and innocent and [with] not a care in the world … And this month, they had to worry about that. Because one night, my 10-year-old was like, ‘No, Mom, I’m good. I don’t have to eat tonight. Sissy can have that.’ And it was literally a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. We shouldn’t have to live in a world like that.”
The toll it took:
“As adults and as parents, we sacrifice anything and everything for our children. And at the end of the day, I will starve to death and die for my children. If I don’t eat for a week, I don’t eat for a week so my kids can eat. At the end of the day, when they cut those benefits for families, it wasn’t that it impacted the parents … As adults, we know how to get by. But it is not fair to the children.”
*This interviewee requested her full name be withheld out of concerns of being reported to child protective services for struggling to provide food for her children. MTFP verified details of her story through social media posts and other records.
