Arizona food banks feeling pressure as SNAP changes, gas prices drive demand

TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) — Food banks across Arizona are seeing a surge in demand as rising prices and cuts to food assistance benefits push more people through their doors.

At Tempe Community Action Agency’s food pantry, the number of different people served through March 2026 was about 16,000. Pantry Manager Philip Cornes says that number was 9,500 through the same point last year.

“Folks are definitely worried about where their next meal is going to come from,” Cornes said.

Food banks struggle to meet demand

Cornes said whenever there is economic uncertainty, they notice longer lines at their pantry.

“We pick up a route of grocery store donations every single day in order to refresh our inventory with fresh items, frozen meat, produce, stuff like that,” he said. “Otherwise, we would not be able to meet the demand that we do.”

Tempe Community Action Agency isn’t the only place seeing this.

“I think we’re really starting to feel the pinch right now,” Jessie Gruner said.

Gruner is the director of policy and community innovation at Pinnacle Prevention, a nonprofit that focuses on food systems. She said she’s noticed the rise in people visiting food banks that the nonprofit works with in real time.

“I think most people don’t realize that we’ve seen such a significant shift in our SNAP participation,” Gruner said.

As part of what was called the “One Big Beautiful Bill”, changes were made to work requirements, exemptions and funding formulas when it comes to SNAP.

The Arizona Department of Economic Security, which administers benefits at the state level, says those changes are a major factor in the decline in SNAP recipients the state has seen. This February, 485,460 people were listed as SNAP recipients. In February 2025, that number was at 917,636.

DES has also faced a backlog in SNAP cases in recent months, delaying SNAP benefits for some during that time.

“I think other families are also feeling a pinch with, you know, gas prices, food prices, all of those things,” Gruner said. “So I think it’s the combination of everyone’s feeling hit by what’s happening right now.”

Concerns about summer demand

While the Tempe pantry has enough food to serve people in line for now, Cornes said he is worried about what could come next.

“I’m worried about the summer. I’m worried about people’s utility bills, adding another compounding factor,” he said. “Yeah, we’re likely to get busy. That’s all I’ll say.”

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.