How SNAP Cuts Target The Survival Of Black Families

Family morning at home — Source: svetikd / Getty

When the richest nation on Earth chooses to starve its citizens instead of feeding them, that decision isn’t about government mismanagement; it is moral, and perhaps even criminal, neglect.

Beginning Nov. 1, millions of Americans, especially Black families, might face empty food benefits cards and emptier kitchens as the nation’s food assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), teeters on collapse during yet another budget standoff in Washington. Republican lawmakers, led by far-right members of Congress, have refused to pass a clean budget, triggering another government shutdown. Their demands are both predictable and cruel: they want deeper cuts to social spending, harsher work requirements for people already working and struggling, new barriers to reproductive healthcare, and billions more for policing and immigration enforcement.

These lawmakers readily approve massive tax breaks for corporations and defense contractors but move quickly to shrink the grocery budgets of working families. They seem more interested in protecting billionaires’ loopholes than making sure American children have food on their plates. And though they call it fiscal restraint, we must see it for what it is: punishment disguised as policy.

The warning signs are already visible in every corner of the country as states scramble and families brace for another storm of uncertainty. In California, more than 5.5 million people who rely on CalFresh, the state’s version of SNAP, have been told they may not receive benefits in November if the shutdown continues. In Georgia, nearly 1.4 million people who depend on food stamps could lose access as early as the first of the month. In Maine, officials have announced that November’s federal SNAP benefits will not be issued unless Congress passes a budget or new federal guidance arrives. This isn’t some distant threat. People already choosing between medicine and electricity will now have to wonder where their next meal will come from.

We know these struggles will not be shared equally because they never are.

A USDA report highlighted by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) found that 26% of SNAP recipients are Black, even though Black people make up only 13% of the U.S. population. That number reflects the deep roots of racial inequality in this country, including lower wages, fewer job opportunities, housing discrimination, and underfunded schools.

Cutting SNAP benefits is a direct attack on Black survival– on the elders who built our communities, on those among us living with disabilities, and on the children who deserve a full plate and a fighting chance. Black elders, already surviving on fixed incomes and rising medical costs, will have to stretch their resources even further. Disabled Black adults who face constant barriers to employment will lose one of the few reliable supports they have. Working parents will once again face impossible choices: rent or groceries, medicine or fresh produce, light bills or school supplies.

If morality guided this nation’s lawmakers and the budgets they produce, feeding people would be seen as life-sustaining work. But instead, Congress tells us there isn’t enough money to fund SNAP while approving an $850 billion military budget. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reports that the United States spends more on its military than the next nine countries combined– nations like China, Russia, India, and the United Kingdom. We’re pouring money into making and distributing bombs while our neighbors ration meals, and stockpiling weapons while children go to school hungry. These choices represent a moral contradiction that says everything about who this country chooses to protect– and who it is willing to neglect.

But there are far better options than the ones being presented to us. Instead of cutting SNAP benefits, Congress could:

Guarantee SNAP as essential spending that can’t be slashed for political gain. Access to food should never depend on political negotiations.
Close corporate tax loopholes. A fraction of what billionaires hide from taxation could end hunger in America.
End punitive work requirements. Forcing people to starve doesn’t build character or a work ethic; it destroys people’s health and ability to survive.
Invest in food sovereignty. Offer more support and resources to farmers, cooperatives, and gardens that feed struggling communities.
Protect our elders and people living with disabilities. Simplify access to food resources, fund deliveries to people with transportation challenges, and make sure every person can eat with dignity.

And yes, we should absolutely expect this kind of care from a government we fund with our own tax dollars. But the truth is, those in power rarely serve the people unless we make them. Policy might be written in Washington, but power always rises from the ground. The only way this budget can move forward without punishing the poor is if we demand it– loudly, consistently, and together. We should be calling our representatives, emailing them, tagging them on social media, and visiting their district offices. We have to tell them that cutting food assistance in the richest country in the world is unacceptable.

If your senator or representative serves on an appropriations or agriculture committee, demand that they protect SNAP funding. To find out who represents you, visit the Find Your Representative tool at house.gov and check committee assignments on Congress.gov. Join local advocacy groups like Feeding America, FRAC, and Community Change to stay informed and mobilize others. Share stories, organize food drives, and keep the pressure on. Collective action is the only thing that has ever changed this country.

We also need to invest in mutual aid networks within the communities that will be most affected by these cuts and delays to SNAP, because while lawmakers argue, people still have to eat. If you know someone whose benefits are being delayed or cut, visit FindHelp.org to find food banks, free community meals, housing assistance, and other local resources. Now is the time to look out for one another. Drop off groceries for a neighbor. Contribute to a community fridge. Support the aunties and church mothers cooking for the block. Check on the elders down the street. Black people have always made abundance out of scarcity, and it’s time for more of us to take up this tradition.

Food is not a privilege. It is a human right. And when the government forgets that truth, it’s up to the people to remember. Because when we feed one another, we’re not just keeping each other alive– we’re living out the words of our Black literary mother, Gwendolyn Brooks, who wrote, “We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.”

Josie Pickens is an educator, writer, cultural critic, and abolitionist strategist and organizer. She is the director of upEND Movement, a national movement dedicated to abolishing the family policing system.

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