![\"Cool](\"https:\/\/www.thecooldown.com\/wp-content\/themes\/tcd\/assets\/images\/divider-icon-earth.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For thousands of families in Texas’ Brazos Valley, the debate over food assistance is not abstract. It comes down to whether a missed paycheck or a higher utility bill means buying groceries or paying rent.<\/p>\n
At Hunger Action Day at the Texas Capitol on Sept. 29, local food bank leaders warned that as new federal SNAP rules shift more costs to the state, the households most likely to feel the strain are those already living on the edge, as KBTX reported.<\/p>\n
Here’s what to know<\/p>\n
Theresa Mangapora, executive director of the Brazos Valley Food Bank, said the organization is facing the highest demand in more than 20 years.<\/p>\n
“Right now, we are feeding more people, distributing more food, and more frequently than we ever have in the history of the time I’ve been at the food bank,” Mangapora said, according to KBTX.<\/p>\n
What food banks can do, leaders said, is far smaller than what SNAP delivers statewide. The program helps about 3 million Texans buy groceries, and Feeding Texas says it provides nine meals for every one a food bank can supply.<\/p>\n
“If I wanted to capture the impact that SNAP makes, I would need to amplify my operations by nine times. We don’t have those resources in the Brazos Valley,” Mangapora said.<\/p>\n
Texas’ higher share of SNAP overhead begins Oct. 1. Starting then, Texas will have to cover 75% of SNAP’s administrative costs instead of 50%, according to Feeding Texas CEO Celia Cole. Cole said that added share would cost the state roughly $117 million a year.<\/p>\n
Cole said the bigger concern may arrive in 2027, when Texas could also end up paying part of SNAP benefit costs because of the state’s error rate in processing applications.<\/p>\n
It also comes after Texas restricted SNAP purchases of candy and sugary drinks, a move advocates say created another obstacle for families using the program, KBTX reported.<\/p>\n
What’s being done?<\/p>\n
Looking ahead to January’s 90th Legislative Session, food bank leaders and Feeding Texas used the Capitol event to press lawmakers on SNAP funding, which is expected to be a major issue.<\/p>\n
Mangapora said charitable food groups should not be viewed as a replacement for the broader system.<\/p>\n
“Food banks are a safety net, but we’re not the real safety net,” she said. “The safety net is the SNAP program.”<\/p>\n
Mangapora said many households are only one financial setback away from needing help, so her message to lawmakers was direct: “Please make sure that you fund the program.”<\/p>\n
Where can I learn more?<\/p>\n
Questions about food assistance and grocery costs are playing out well beyond Texas, as this related coverage examines.<\/p>\n
\u2022 For some families, food stamps can cover garden seeds, stretching grocery budgets beyond checkout lines.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Worldwide, food banks delivered 1.7 billion meals last year while keeping usable food from landfills.<\/p>\n
\u2022 In Spain, shoppers faced dramatic price surges, underscoring how quickly food costs can climb.<\/p>\n
Get TCD’s free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For thousands of families in Texas’ Brazos Valley, the debate over food assistance is not abstract. It comes down to whether a missed paycheck or a higher utility bill means buying groceries or paying rent. At Hunger Action Day at the Texas Capitol on Sept. 29, local food bank leaders warned that as new federal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3361,17516,93,2170,71,6683,15989,100,176,175,101],"class_list":["post-45050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-bad-news","tag-bad-policy-news","tag-business","tag-drink","tag-food","tag-garden","tag-hacks","tag-home","tag-texas","tag-texas-food","tag-yahoo-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117395612224832625","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}