Thank you.
Following a hearing in the lawsuit,
the federal judge in Massachusetts
indicated she would order
the Trump administration to send
SNAP funds to states.
So the familiar uncertainty
persists.
But adding to the federal SNAP
cliff, some 18,000 federal
workers in Wisconsin are mostly
going without a paycheck.
Where to turn for help to feed the
family in the midst of it?
Food banks and pantries are
girding for a rush on their
services.
We turn to Jackie Anderson,
Executive Director of Feeding
Wisconsin, a statewide network
of food banks.
And thanks very much for being here.
Thank you for having me.
So what kind of trepidation do you
have going forward with potential
lapses or disruptions in
food share benefits?
We're very concerned about having
enough food because we know that
people already in preparation
for not being able to receive
their SNAP benefits in the month of
November, they're starting to stock
up. So across the state, we're
really thinking about how
can we ensure that everybody has the
amount of food that they have until
the government opens up again and
SNAP Benefits will go
back on EBT cards.
I'm saying with people kind of
stocking up even ahead of
any kind of cut
of SNAP funding,
that you're having difficulties
because the costs are going up.
Yeah, we've seen that some vendors,
because they know that there is
pressure to make sure that we have
food on our shelves, there are
some significant increases that
we're seeing in some parts of the
state.
So we're really trying to
encourage people to use their SNAP
benefits in the month of November
because there was some
miscommunication saying
that a person could not use their
snap benefits throughout the month
November, and that is inaccurate,
so.
The use of SNAP benefits is going
to help our food banks and food
pantries.
How have food prices already,
though, taxed your services even
ahead of all of this, the shutdown?
We knew that what
numbers we were looking at were
actually pre-COVID.
So we know already because of
inflation that
people cannot keep
food in their shelves like
they had previously done.
So we knew already that
we didn't have enough food at the
food bank and food pantry world
to keep everybody fed.
And now this has just increased
what we need to do.
As to the lawsuit to tap USDA
contingency funds
to cover SNAP through November,
what's your response to the
administration saying they
can't...
Do that?
Yeah, it's frustrating because we
know that there's funds on the
federal level, we know that there
are funds on state level as well.
The funding is there, it is just a
matter of releasing it.
And it is a political game at
this point and everybody needs
to come together because people
are going to go hungry
and that is not something that
anyone should play around with.
We need to really take advantage of
the funds that are there and release
them. It does seem like a
a policy choice because there are
some lawmakers who believe that
the SNAP program is bloated or
rife with abuse.
And fraud, what do you know about
that? It's not, we see time
and time again and we know the vast
majority of people who are using
SNAP benefits absolutely
are working more.
They work one or two jobs,
it's not fraud, it's no
fraud, waste, and abuse.
We know that people who need it
are 700,000 people throughout
the state of Wisconsin.
Of them, a large percentage are
senior citizens and families with
children.
It's not people who are taking
advantage of the system.
Even with a court order,
could recipients experience a
lapse in food supply?
Absolutely.
So even when, let's say,
funding is released and goes back
on their EBT cards, we know
that there will be a slight delay
just to get everything up and
running again. So we're being really
clear in the messaging around that
that even when the government opens
up, it's not going to be a
miraculous addition
on their EVT cards.
It's going to take a couple days to
get things up and run.
And so one thing that you said
earlier that I'm a little confused
about was that people were
encouraged to use their
SNAP benefits through
November?
Yeah, so there was some confusion
and the confusion was
around whether or not stores would
accept their EBT cards in the month
of November and the
message and that because of
messaging that had to come from on
the federal level and
so we needed to be clear
that everybody can use their
benefits. So let's say you have a
balance left over in October, you
absolutely can use that in the
months of November.
So Feeding Wisconsin secures
donations from retailers, food
companies, local donors, and ag
producers.
Have those donations kept pace
with...
This demand?
It's interesting.
So our food banks, they collect
a lot of donations
in what you just spoke about.
I think where we're seeing the
biggest lapse right now is corporate
donors. And that could
be because of tariffs, like there's
a lot reasons why that's happening.
But on the whole, there
is donations.
So many people wanna help out right
now. We encourage anybody,
if they are interested in helping
out, go straight to the food bank
or the food pantries instead of
doing individual food drives.
That is where you can get
the most for your money,
where they have purchasing power,
they understand what their community
needs.
So for people who have never sought
out food pantries, what should they
know?
Yeah, they should know that our food
pantrys are welcoming
and that they are there to
help the community.
They try to communicate what is
available, most,
not most, all food banks and food
panties.
Their times are listed on their
websites, and sometimes those change
based on if it's a mobile pantry.
Also expect long lines.
We're seeing right now where there
used to be maybe an hour-long line,
now it's two to three hours long.
So expect a delay if you could get
there during the distribution hours
early.
That will help ensure that there's
enough food for you.
Is it true that right
now there are many first time users
kind of of pantries?
Yeah, absolutely, especially
in those military communities.
We know that there are first timers,
you know, anyone else who is a
federal worker, if they're not
getting paid, we know that they're
going to be first timer, as well
as just people who are struggling
to, because of the
cost of groceries right now.
So, absolutely the number of first
timered is high.
All right, Jackie Anderson, thanks
very much.
For more on this and other issues
facing Wisconsin, visit our website
at pbswisconsin.org and
then click on the news tab.
That's our program for tonight.
I'm Fredrika Freiburg.
Have a good weekend.
Thank you.