As the government shutdown continues, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits nationwide have been on a pause indefinitely. In Vermont, 3SqauresVT has switched to state funding until Nov. 15, as lawmakers join a multi-state lawsuit against the federal government.
Despite the cuts, UVM’s food insecurity assistance programs remain, including Rally Cat’s Cupboard, funded by the University and volunteers.
The Swipe Out Hunger program, which previously gave off-campus students in need 14 free meal swipes per semester, has been put on pause due to an increase in demand, not changes in SNAP, according to UVM’s website.
“When people think of SNAP, they do not necessarily think of college students. A loss of benefits through SNAP will increase the likelihood of thousands of college students to go hungry and struggle to meet their other basic needs such as housing,” stated Trishnee Bhurosy, professor of nutrition and food sciences, in a Nov. 1 email to the Cynic.
Bhurosy’s research has shown that 2 in 5 off-campus students are food insecure.
“This statistic is the highest among first gen, international and graduate students,” said Basic Needs Coordinator Max Stieglitz.
Stieglitz is in charge of signing up students for SNAP benefits, as well as purchasing household goods for students in need. He sees the community working to help out students despite federal cuts, he said.
“We’ve been expanding the amount of ordering we’ve been doing. We got a $10,000 yearly donation from Sodexo to help fund the cupboard,” he said.
Rally Cat’s Cupboard has also been expanding its donations, and they are installing a new freezer, he said.
The Food Recovery Network has been creating weekly meal kits with food from Redstone Dining, and the Career Center will host its annual Catsgiving on Nov. 12 to prepare meal kits for the cupboard, he said.
“There’s just a lot of campus organizations really trying to push for this food shelf to have more food,” Stieglitz said. “I can attest personally that there has been much more food in the past couple of weeks and will continue to be into the future to help cover some of these losses from SNAP cuts.”
For students facing food insecurity due to SNAP cuts, Stieglitz can be contacted through the Basic Needs Contact Form.
“I personally have a lot of anger about what’s going on, but I find that taking that and turning it into positive community action really helps to process those feelings,” Stieglitz said. “If anyone’s really angry about this, and also maybe less so impacted, you can volunteer at Rally Cats Cupboard.”
