Trump’s partial government shutdown is still in effect, and people are starting to get seriously worried. Whether you're a government employee dreading furlough, a government contractor worried about whittling away paid time off while you’ve been sent home, or are terrified that your public assistance will dry up, having roughly 25 percent of the government go unfunded is no joke.
At this rate, people are especially concerned about the Department of Agriculture, as they’re the agency which houses food-related assistance. Staffing will be cut by 95 percent by the fifth day of the shutdown, for example.
In a statement over the weekend, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said:
“There may be a lapse in funding for the federal government, but that will not relieve USDA of its responsibilities for safeguarding life and property through the critical services we provide."
So now that we’ve covered the basics of how the partial government shutdown affects offices and services, here are some specifics:
How does the shutdown affect Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)?
SNAP (commonly known as “food stamps” or “EBT”) will still be available for eligible households for the month of January. But as January is just a few days away, many families are already concerned.
What about the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)?
WIC will continue to operate but will rely just on available resources. What does this mean? Additional federal funds won’t come during the shutdown.
And what about the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations?
Like WIC, the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations will be operational based just on available resources.
How does the shutdown affect school lunch programs?
Programs under the child nutrition umbrella, including School Lunch, School Breakfast, Child and Adult Care Feeding, Special Milk, and Summer Food Service, are set through February. But given that these free or subsidized meals are sometimes all a child can consistently expect to receive, through February simply isn’t good enough.
How does the shutdown impact food inspections?
The Department of Agriculture will continue doing inspection services on meat, poultry, and processed eggs, as well as food import and export, during the shutdown.
So what happens to SNAP or School Lunch programs if the government stays shutdown?
The short answer: It’s not entirely clear. However, when a partial government shutdown occurred in January 2018, Perdue suggested that state agencies (which oversee programs like SNAP) would be able to provide the services with state money. The states could also use federal funds they may have saved. But that’s not set in stone, and obviously would vary by state.
No matter what services you rely on, any loss can be devastating. Access to food is a consistent issue in the United States, which is obscene. In 2017, for example, one out of every eight Americans experienced food insecurity and 13 million of those were children.
And for people who don’t necessarily utilize benefits, but simply work for the government in some capacity, the shutdown is still hugely problematic. Eight out of ten Americans currently live paycheck to paycheck; how can anyone realistically save enough to survive without pay? But of course, Trump couldn’t seem to care less.