The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website said there will be no benefits issued for
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, beginning in November if the government shutdown hasn’t ended. That has some food banks worried about the impact on recipients in South Dakota.
“If there’s anything that’s keeping me up at night right now, it’s the 75,000 people who utilize SNAP in our state," said Lori Dykstra, CEO of Feeding South Dakota. She called the prospect of her organization and its partners serving 75,000 addition people “nearly impossible.”
“If they are unable to get their EBT cards reloaded in a couple of weeks, they’re going to turn to the charitable food network,” Dykstra said. “And we do not have enough food to meet that gap. For every one meal a foodbank provides, SNAP provides nine meals.”
She said they’re already struggling to keep up with the current demand before this issue. According to Feeding South Dakota, the state’s food insecurity rate has risen 24% since 2019, calling it the highest rate in state history.
Dykstra said a host of factors play into that.
“Prices at the grocery store are higher, and there’s some housing and daycare and other things that are adding to this. But what I think sometimes is a misperception is that people aren’t working,” Dykstra said. “And we know that there’s about 70% of the people who utilize our services have a working person in their household.”
She said the highest areas of need are in rural and tribal communities. Dykstra said those areas have to “stretch” their Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, cards because there isn’t widespread access to big box stores or reduced-price items.
On Oct. 24, the Standing Rock Reservation called a State of Emergency over the loss of potential benefits like SNAP due to the government shutdown. Earlier this month Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Chairman Peter Lengkeek also stressed the importance of protecting SNAP to the USDA.
Although SNAP is funded federally, states are in charge of administering the funds. According to the Department of Social Services, the state dispersed $14.76 million in September for SNAP benefits, or a little under $400 ($393.98) to each household.
On Oct. 21, the state Department of Health said benefits to the Women, Infants and Children program will continue as normal during the government shutdown. That press release didn't specify if benefits would continue beyond Nov. 1. The DOH didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
However, in a statement, DSS Cabinet Secretary Matt Althoff confirmed to SDPB that if the shutdown persists beyond October, SNAP beneficiaries won't be funded.
"If the federal government’s shutdown continues and SNAP benefits are not funded in November, recipients will not receive SNAP benefits for that month," the statement said. "The federal government has communicated that states would not be reimbursed if they choose to fund benefits to SNAP recipients. There was no distinction offered in this direction for full or partial benefit amounts."
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the state is putting forward $30 million to keep the program running there. According to Politico, South Dakota now joins 25 other states who would cut off SNAP benefits on Nov. 1.
Stasia Elsinger is a dietician at Avera who spoke, representing herself and her own personal beliefs, at a downtown Sioux Falls Rotary round table called "Keeping South Dakota Fed." She said there isn't much to say on the possibility SNAP recipients could go unfed.
"I truly believe that this is allowing individuals and neighbors and friends to starve," Elsinger said.
She emphasized the point that "food is medicine" and taking that away could have a compounding effect.
"When we're sick what do we do? We eat soup, and we rest. So, when people have chronic illnesses such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, things like that, they need to eat. They need to do that consistently," Elsinger said. "When we start to take away the ability to do that, we can have injuries that aren't healing because you're not going to heal properly from surgery, from any illness, anything truly without being properly nourished. So, it can take more time. That means more time in hospitals. That means going back into the hospital potentially. That means more money spent on doctor visits than at home healing."
