While higher costs of food and gas have impacted wallets across the country, low-income Americans are especially feeling the effects. And the food pantries they rely on to fill the gap are struggling to keep up with increased demand going into the holidays and winter months.
Last month, a food pantry in Binghamton, New York, had to close one week because it didn’t have sufficient food for its clients. In Cincinnati, Ohio, some food pantries have seen double or triple the number of families showing up to almost empty pantries.
In the year since President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which implemented work requirements for certain SNAP recipients, was signed in July 2025, about 5.5 million Americans lost benefits — including 2 million children, according to an estimate from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The cut in SNAP funding from the bill, also known as H.R.1, has led more families to seek help from food pantries.
“There’s more people coming to us and coming to other places rather than trying to maintain SNAP benefits,” Marianne Lynch, the executive director of Pennsylvania-based The Open Link, told HuffPost. The organization serves rural communities located between Allentown and Philadelphia. The area has no public transportation, a lot of farms and a population that is largely over 60 years old. Statewide, about 231,000 people have lost their SNAP benefits, including 60,000 children.
Since the cuts took effect, Lynch has seen a 25% increase in households relying on their food pantry.
Lynch said that in the past, a food bank mainly offered emergency services. But her program has evolved into more of a supplemental program to help people get by on a regular basis.
“I think that the food banking system is brilliant in this country,” she said. “I wish that it didn’t have to exist, but it does. Communities who have enough to eat have children who do better in school, have seniors who are healthier, have communities that are more whole and focused because they’re not constantly thinking about surviving.”
Carrie Stahler, senior manager for government and public affairs of Vermont Foodbank says her state saw the largest dip in SNAP participation in 20 years.
“In the past, reductions in SNAP participation have been a reflection of positive household economic improvements — wage increases or folks finding jobs — but that is not the case right now,” she said. “The current reduction in participation is directly tied to policy changes made in H.R.1.”
In the past year, Vermonters have seen a 15% decrease in food-aid participation, and Stahler said she’s noticed a 30% increase in people visiting the food bank.
Tariffs on aluminum have driven up the cost of canned goods. Groceries and other retail establishments have lost revenue because of the SNAP cuts. All of this makes for a perpetual storm of anxiety.
“Unpredictability, price pressure from tariffs, supply chain disruptions, and an increase in food prices mean that food banks, like ours, need more revenue to simply offer the same amount and types of food we did just one year ago, while also facing the need to provide more food to neighbors,” she said.
The Open Link in Pennsylvania relies on retail rescue, or buying food that is nearing its expiration date. But increased costs of gas and energy to transport that food mean less for families — both in terms of food and additional funding to help people with their bills.
“We do an emergency fuel assistance program, and the cost last year was $3.54 a gallon, so we help people pay, like, an oil bill,” Lynch said. “We’re not going to be able to help them with the whole bill this time.”
“It’s a lot of sticker shock for us and our families,” she added.
So, what can members of a community do to help people in need? On the federal and state levels, Stahler suggested contacting politicians to get SNAP benefits restored.
“Something everyone can do is tell their elected officials in the state and federal government that we want SNAP to work for people,” she said. “Restoring SNAP, delaying additional state cost shares, and making this program work for people who need it is critical and urgent work for the next Congress and for our state governments.”
“We all know in the food security business that SNAP is the No. 1 way that we are going to solve hunger in the United States,” Lynch said. “When you eat away at that, you are undermining the entire food security system.”
Locally, people should host food drives and donate goods to food banks and pantries. Brian Goessling took a different approach, and helped to create a community fridge in Covington, Kentucky.
In 2021, he co-founded COVUnity with Missy Spears. An outdoor fridge situated in a parking lot allows 24/7 access to food alongside a pantry, a harm reduction vending machine, a microwave and a hot and cold water dispenser. These days, the fridge is more vital than ever because 42,870 Kentuckians have lost SNAP benefits, including 11,168 children.
COVUnity is conveniently located next door to Redden Gardens, a community garden where people rent plots to grow food, which was started by Goessling’s grandfather Doc Redden. “He practiced at this location for 57 years, and much of that would be considered indigent care,” Goessling said. “He was a product of the Great Depression, which instilled values within him for helping others and meeting them where they are.”
For Goessling, he appreciates the support from a diverse group of people. “We live in a world where people really do wish to help each other but don’t always know how,” he said. “We share more similarities than differences. The fridge, in its own small way, showcases how we as individuals rallying around a common cause can help each other.”
“Food insecurity has many faces,” he added. “It can be a chronic need, but it can also stem from a happenstance like an unexpected bill or late paycheck. The fridge is for everyone. Sometimes, people at our fridge just need hot or cold water or a way to heat food in our microwave.”
Goessling thinks the government should take a walk-in-their-shoes approach.
“I would ask that government officials spend some time volunteering at a food pantry or a soup kitchen or otherwise listening to the stories of those who have experienced food insecurity,” he said. “If a public servant would not help a hungry person, would they rather that person starve? Maybe, then, public service is not for them.”
Lynch is hopeful that the unprecedented Democratic blue wave of the midterms signals that the situation could improve.
“I am hopeful and excited to see that people saw the inhumanity of the last two years and did something about it in a big way,” Lynch said. “There’s still a lot of work and advocacy to do to help SNAP and other programs perform as they should, but this is a huge first step to progress for the people I serve.”