Even though the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are flowing again and the first of two major holidays this season has passed, experts who help people access food say those affected by the federal government shutdown still feel extreme unease.

“The toll on people’s mental health was astonishing,” said Erin Ferrentino, food access manager at Grow Food Northampton, the nonprofit that runs a community farm. “We’re still dealing with that — people just not knowing when the other shoe is going to drop, when their benefits are going to get taken away.”

As regional food banks continue to report an increase in sign-ups for free meals since the government shutdown ended on Nov. 12, the state’s Anti-Hunger Task Force is holding listening sessions throughout November and December to gather feedback as it prepares to advise the governor’s office on long-term solutions for addressing hunger, food insecurity and related economic hardships impacting communities.  

Gov. Maura Healey created the task force in July, not long after Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill that contained reductions to SNAP benefits. In direct response to these reductions, the task force is bringing together leaders from state and local governments, food banks, nonprofit and business leaders and others to develop recommendations. 

Just as this work was getting into full swing, “the shutdown happened, in the middle of our task force work,” said task force co-chair Allison Bovell-Ammon, referring to the federal government’s closure that started on Oct. 1.

Bovell-Ammon, assistant undersecretary for Children & Family Services at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, heads the task force with Ashley Randle, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and Alana Davidson, director of communications at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Education.

The task force is looking into solutions that would support existing food assistance programs, such as boosting labor in school breakfast programs, increasing funding of the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program and strengthening support for the state’s agricultural sector. 

“We know that the food pantries and food banks are stretched because of the extra pressure that was placed upon them during the federal shutdown and the delay in SNAP benefits,” said Randle, a South Deerfield native who has served as agricultural commissioner since 2023.  

According to Randle, one in three Massachusetts residents are considered “food insecure” and SNAP cuts “exacerbated the need” for food assistance. Bovell-Ammon also said approximately 9,500 immigrants in Massachusetts who have legal status in the U.S. and were previously eligible for SNAP benefits are at risk of losing their benefits over the course of next year. 

Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, also a member of the Anti-Hunger Task Force, said that transportation is one major unique challenge that prevents people from accessing food in western Massachusetts. 

“It’s a perfect storm of food insecurity,” Comerford said. 

Springfield’s pressures are “continuing to grow,” Randle said, adding that the city has the “highest rate of individuals that are on SNAP.” 

Comerford said she hopes the task force will expand collaboration between the state government and private agencies, such as encouraging tax credits for farms that donate their produce. 

“I do think part of being able to survive the current administration and Congress is us, in Massachusetts, being as strong and as coordinated and strategic with the dollars that we do have as possible,” Comerford said. 

Bovell-Ammon emphasized the task force’s role in finding long-term solutions to support immigrants and other communities declared ineligible for SNAP benefits under the One Big Beautiful Bill. 

“While the impact of the shutdown was very deep even in that very short period of a delay of benefits, we know it had a destabilizing effect. We also know that there will be long-term impacts from the law change that we will continue to see in our emergency food system,” Bovell-Ammon said. 

Need remains high

Kaitlyn Ferrari, the interim program manager of Manna Community Kitchen, a Northampton nonprofit established by St. John’s Episcopal Church that provides hot meals to hungry people, said they recruited more labor to prepare for the influx of families in need of Thanksgiving meals. 

A year ago, Manna fed 1,500 people for Thanksgiving, and prior to the holiday Ferrari said the organization was expecting about 2,000 people. Outside of the holiday, she said Manna has witnessed a steady increase in people since the COVID-19 pandemic, estimating before the pandemic, Manna saw at least 10 new people each day. Now, the food bank provides meals for more than 300 people a day. 

Ferrari stressed the rising cost of food as another challenge Manna faces, estimating a box of chicken that previously cost $70 now costs more than $100. 

“The cost is higher, the need is greater, and we’re just doing the best we can to provide free meals for anyone that needs one,” Ferrari said. 

The Northampton Survival Center similarly saw the number of households signed up for its choice-pantry service double. The service enables people to choose from a variety of available free food options, rather than giving registered households prepacked food boxes. 

According to Alexander Léger-Small, the assistant program director, about 90 households were registered for the service last year; since the beginning of October, more than 200 households have registered. Léger-Small said this increase occurred during the government shutdown, as households experienced the cuts to SNAP benefits. 

“We are looking at our busiest year since the start of the pandemic,” Léger-Small said. 

Highland Valley Elder Services provides food to the elderly community through its “Meals on Wheels” program, which delivers meals directly to individual homes and senior centers. Nutrition Director Riley Brown estimated the program delivered over 1,100 meals for Thanksgiving. 

Brown said the federal government’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program has “dwindled” in its variety of options that it offers to elderly service programs , restricting the kinds of nutritious meals that it can provide. The CSFP is meant to serve low-income individuals over the age of 59 by distributing foods to organizations like Highland Valley for a reduced price. 

Andrew Morehouse, executive director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, said families are facing the added burden of other federal program cuts such as Medicare. 

“SNAP benefits have been restored, people are still very nervous and stressed, and that has an impact on family life,” said Morehouse, who is a member of the governor’s Anti-Hunger Task Force. “The added cost of heating over the winter months will put more strain on people’s very tight budgets to get by.” 

Morehouse’s organization has increased its temporary staff and added extra mobile food bank distribution sites due to the shutdown and the increased demand for food. He said the organization is “dipping into an emergency fund” of private, unrestricted dollars to cover these added costs. 

“Every day is a challenge,” Morehouse said. 

Project Bread, an organization that connects communities to local food assistance programs and educates callers on the SNAP eligibility, experienced a 400% increase in call volume during the government shutdown, said Jennifer Lemmerman, the organization’s chief policy officer. 

“We had to increase our hours, we brought more staff off of their usual jobs to support the hotline and jump on the phones,” Lemmerman said. “It was really a moment where we had to put as much capacity into response as we possibly could.” 

Dave’s Natural Garden is a local farm in Granby that supplies produce to food assistance programs like Grow Food Northampton. Co-owner Meghan Hastings said if the SNAP cuts had continued, the farm would have faced financial pressure. 

“In addition to having to worry about our own income, and whether we’re gonna make enough money without SNAP purchases coming into the store, we also have to worry about our customers,” Hastings said. 

Thankful for support 

Leaders of local food banks are grateful for the outpouring of support they have received, both in food and financial donations.

Ferrentino said Grow Food Northampton raised $20,000 in donations to financially support SNAP recipients during the shutdown. The organization called this fund, “Snap Back,” which was used to distribute $20 to each individual who shopped at their Tuesday Farmers Market in downtown Northampton.

Morehouse also expressed gratitude for Healey’s executive decision to fully fund SNAP benefits before the shutdown ended. 

“The fact that the government, Healey, made a decision before there was a guarantee that the [U.S. Department of Agriculture] would issue November staff payments, was a signal that we could count on the commonwealth of Massachusetts to have our backs at a time when we don’t feel that way about the federal government,” Morehouse said. 

The Anti-Hunger Task Force will host a listening session open to the public on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at Springfield Technical Community College.

Joanna Malvas writes for the Gazette as part of the Boston University Statehouse Program.