The politics of food is personal, especially now.
It’s day 30 of the federal government shutdown, and key programs are grinding to a halt. One such program is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps more than 40 million Americans keep food on the table.
In Michigan, roughly 1.4 million residents rely on those benefits to stretch their grocery budgets. The federal pause means November’s payments could be delayed — a disruption that would ripple through the entire food system. Families will face the prospect of empty dinner tables, while local grocers, food co-ops, and urban farms brace for reduced spending.
In Detroit, one person working to keep the city’s food systems healthy amid the uncertainty is Amanda Brezzell, co-founder and creative director of Fennigan’s Farms, an urban agriculture and community design studio devoted to food access, sustainability, and resilience.
Brezzell joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to describe what she’s hearing from residents and what advocates are doing in real time.
Dining and Cooking