King County food banks brace for demand as federal SNAP cuts loom

Janelle Smith-Dozier has been watching news of cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with fear and heartbreak.

About four years ago, a brain condition forced Smith-Dozier to retire, upending her world. She went from a steady salary to scraping by on Social Security payments. Money “was beyond tight,” she said. Food assistance from the government – about $200 a month – allowed her to breathe a little easier.

Now, massive slashes and sweeping changes to the federal food assistance program under the budget reconciliation bill signed by President Donald Trump last month has left Smith-Dozier and other recipients reeling.

“My family was like, ‘you have to get ready, you better get a garden,’ ” Smith-Dozier said wryly.

Local food banks, already overwhelmed with long lines before open hours, are bracing for another wave of visitors, as the safety net program more than 941,000 people rely on in Washington to stock their fridges and pantries is threatened.

Federal spending on SNAP, also known as food stamps, is expected to be reduced by nearly $187 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The cuts come as food banks and hunger-relief groups have seen a reduction in federal and state funding for services in recent months.

Under the new law, able-bodied adults ages 18 to 64 must work at least 80 hours per month to qualify for food assistance. The work requirement used to only apply up to age 54. Refugees, people granted asylum and trafficking survivors – who have historically been eligible for SNAP benefits – are now excluded.

While the new eligibility rules technically took effect immediately after the reconciliation bill was enacted, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is still in the process of issuing guidance to states.

All told, about 170,000 people in Washington are at risk of losing access to food stamps – which average about $324 per person per month – according to estimates from the state Department of Social and Health Services. For those who remain on SNAP, monthly benefits could be reduced as much as an average of about $56.

With consumers still stinging from record-high food prices at grocery stores, “these cuts coming now are even more painful,” said Meghan Altimore, CEO of Hopelink, which operates five food banks in North and East King County.

“Poverty is here,” said Altimore as she surveyed the baskets of fresh produce and shelves of canned goods at the Redmond food bank location on a recent Thursday. “These cuts are going to directly harm people in our community.”

Many food banks in the region are “low-barrier,” meaning they do not regularly capture demographic data like income or benefit status of clients. But officials say a large swath are SNAP recipients.

Food banks are expecting many of their existing clients to come in more frequently, and are preparing for new visits from those who previously were able to get by shopping at grocery stores using their SNAP benefits.

In King County, about 11% of residents – about 254,500 people – struggle to access nutritious foods, according to data from Feeding America, a national nonprofit network of food banks and meal programs.

“We’re viewing this impact as devastating, that’s the word we’re using,” said Gloria Hatcher-Mays, executive director of the Rainier Valley Food Bank.

The food bank is planning on increasing its food budget from about $650,000 to more than a million dollars next year in anticipation of the influx, she said.

The cuts are particularly devastating for refugees and people granted asylum, many of whom spent significant money to travel and settle in the U.S. and are struggling to make ends meet, said Steven Curry, food bank director at the Multi-Service Center in Federal Way.

Curry estimates about half of the people who visit the food bank receive food stamps, and about 45% to 50% of visitors are immigrants and refugees.

“Literally the last three weeks, we’ve been enrolling family after family after family from Afghanistan,” Curry said. Though many will likely no longer be eligible when the law is in full effect, the possibility of receiving SNAP benefits, even for a few months, makes signing up worth it, he said.

Soaring demand at food banks during the pandemic never really subsided, hunger relief groups report. Inflation-fueled grocery prices, cuts to COVID-era benefits and rolling layoffs across the region have meant food banks continue to see an uptick in visits.

Over the last year, demand at El Centro de la Raza’s food bank in Beacon Hill increased from about 150 visitors a week to about 225 a week, according to director of human services Marcos Martinez.

“It just presents a pretty dire situation for our community which is already under stress to be able to provide for themselves and their families in terms of food and nutrition,” Martinez said.

Since 2023, the average number of clients visiting the Byrd Barr Place food bank in the Central District has more than doubled, said director of strategic initiatives Tiffany Kelly-Gray.

Additional federal cuts included in the reconciliation bill, like those to Medicaid, will also have a major impact on people’s budgets, she said.

Hunger relief agencies are also feeling a financial pinch. The end of We Feed WA, a $35 million statewide COVID-era food assistance program, has left Byrd Barr with a large budget gap, Kelly-Gray said. It’s a confluence of troubles on the horizon.

“How those things come together and impact families we’re waiting to see, but I imagine it won’t be good,” she said.

Given the federal funding cuts and belt-tightening at the state level, Altimore at Hopelink said she and other hunger relief groups are looking to increase philanthropic revenue, and are encouraging residents to host local food drives and donate volunteer hours to help alleviate anticipated demand.

Meanwhile, Smith-Dozier, who often makes weekly stops at Byrd Barr Place to pick up goods, said she plans to stock up on canned goods, dry pasta and fill up her freezer with meats.

“I don’t want to be in a situation where later I’m told, ‘You’re not eligible, effective immediately,’ and I look and have nothing in the cabinet,” she said.