Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of non-perishable food goods at Love Chapel Food Pantry in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022.
LOCAL food pantries are bracing for what they fear could be unprecedented demand for help with groceries in Bartholomew County as enhanced food stamp benefits get scaled back amid the largest increase in food costs in decades.
Starting this month, thousands of Bartholomew County residents who are enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, better known as food stamps, will no longer receive the enhanced benefits that have been available during roughly the past two years in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, the U.S. government allowed Indiana and other states to issue “emergency allotments” to help SNAP recipients during the pandemic, allowing households to receive the maximum benefit allowed for their household size, according to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
But those expanded benefits will no longer be available to SNAP recipients in Indiana “due to the end of the state public health emergency on March 3, and a recent change in Indiana law,” FSSA said. The maximum benefit boost ends when a participant’s state or the federal government ends their pandemic emergency status, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Soaring demand for food
The change comes as more Bartholomew County residents are receiving food stamps than before the pandemic and while local food pantries are already reporting soaring demand largely driven by inflation and rising food costs.
A total of 5,750 Bartholomew County residents — about 7% of the county’s population — were receiving SNAP benefits in April, according to the most recent data from FSSA. That’s 387 more people than in March 2020, state records show.
At the same time, 6,994 people turned to Love Chapel, 311 Center St., for help with food in April — roughly the equivalent of 1 in 12 Bartholomew County residents and the highest monthly total in the organization’s decades-long history, said executive director Kelly Daugherty.
Daugherty expects Love Chapel to distribute a record 1.6 million pounds of food this year, up from about 1.37 million pounds last year, which was a record at the time.
“(Demand) has never been anywhere close to that,” Daugherty said. “…I’m really concerned about June and what it’s going to look like.”
“I don’t know how well (the change in SNAP benefits) has been communicated,” Daugherty added. “I think people may be expecting to get their normal SNAP benefit or whatever they got the last few months, and when they get it (this month), it’s going to be a lot less.”
Similar concerns are being voiced at Salvation Army, 2525 Illinois Ave., which saw demand nearly triple last week compared to the week before, said Nancy Johnson, the organization’s director of social services.
Overall, Salvation Army served about 900 people in May, which was down from just more than 1,000 in April, Johnson said. But officials there are anticipating record demand this summer largely due to the end of the enhanced food stamp benefits and rising food prices.
“I figure that I’m going to get an extra 25% a month,” Johnson said, referring to the number of people she expects the organization to serve.
A 25% increase in people seeking help with food would push Salvation Army to record levels of demand, Johnson said. And with higher food costs and reduced food stamp benefits, Johnson said she is concerned that “I won’t be able to feed people,” though she believes “God will take care of what I need.”
Both organizations say they are in need of dry goods, including peanut butter, cereal, rice, canned pasta, among other items, and are urging people to donate if they can.
What happens now?
Though SNAP recipients in Indiana will likely receive less food aid going forward, how much of a decline they will see, if any, depends on several factors, including household size, income, among others, according to FSSA.
However, most SNAP recipients will still receive more benefits than before the pandemic due to formula adjustments by the USDA and a cost-of-living increase, FSSA said. This past October, benefit amounts were permanently increased by 40 cents per person, per meal, according to the USDA.
Local food officials say that many people in the community are “having to make decisions between how much to put in their gas tank and how to get food on the table.”
“I think between gas prices and food prices that so many people are hurting right now,” Daugherty said. “I think they’re hanging on, but they’re hurting. And I think that’s why we’re seeing more and more people come to the pantry.”
“It’s difficult for them,” Daugherty added. “And when the SNAP benefits go back … we expect that we’ll seen another increase again.”
