Major Cuts to Food Stamps Coming
Life is about to get even harder for low-income people who depend on Food and Nutrition Services, better known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) or “food stamps” to feed themselves and their families.
Beginning in March, North Carolina households will no longer receive additional emergency allotments of food stamps, reducing the total monthly amount by $95 or more per household.
Monthly emergency allotment payments began during the pandemic in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19. Now those additional allotments are being rolled back. According to NC Health and Human Services, the average benefit per person per day will decrease from $8.12 to $5.45. They estimate that an average of 900,000 North Carolina households received FNS emergency allotments since March of 2020.
These cuts will impact thousands of families here in WNC. Pisgah Legal and MANNA FoodBank have offered a list of tips and actions to take, which can be found on WLOS.
Thank you to WLOS for helping inform our community about this important issue.