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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.
You're 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 of November and that is inaccurate.
So the use of SNAP benefits is gonna help our food banks
and food pantries.
How have food prices already, though, text or services,
even ahead of all of this, the shutdown?
We know 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 is funds on the federal level.
We know that there's funds at the state level as well.
The funding is there.
It's 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 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.
That is, it's not fraud.
It's not fraud, waste and abuse.
We know that people who needed
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 trip?
Absolutely.
So even when, let's say funding is released
and it 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 gonna be a miraculous addition on their EBT cards.
It's gonna take a couple days to get things up and running.
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 month 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 labs right now
is corporate donors.
And that could be because of tariffs.
Like there's a lot of 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 pantries
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 pantries.
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 have pantries?
Yeah, absolutely.
Especially in those military communities,
we know that there are first timers,
anyone else who is a federal worker,
if they're not getting paid,
we know that they're gonna be first timers,
as well as just people who are struggling
to because of the cost of groceries right now.
So absolutely the number of first timers is high.
All right, Jackie Anderson, thanks very much.
Thank you.
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 Frederica Freibert.
Have a good weekend.