Since the “Big, Beautiful Bill” was enacted in 2025, an estimated 5.5 million Americans—including 2 million children—have lost SNAP benefits, pushing more families to seek help from food pantries, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The strain is showing up in Vermont, where SNAP participation fell 15% in a year—the steepest drop in 20 years—even as visits to Vermont Foodbank rose 30%; senior manager Carrie Stahler attributes the decline to policy changes, not improved household finances.

At The Open Link, a Pennsylvania organization serving rural communities, executive director Marianne Lynch says pantry-reliant households have increased 25% since the cuts took effect, shifting the pantry’s role from emergency aid to regular support.

Elsewhere, rising demand is outpacing supplies: a Binghamton, New York, pantry temporarily closed after running short of food, while some Cincinnati-area pantries have seen two or three times as many families arrive at nearly empty facilities.

Food banks are also paying more for food, transportation and operations, including canned goods affected by aluminum tariffs and higher fuel and energy costs, leaving them needing more funding to provide the same amount of food.

Higher fuel costs have also limited The Open Link’s ability to help families pay heating-oil bills, adding to pressure from rising grocery and other expenses.

Communities are responding with food drives and donations, as well as efforts such as COVUnity, a 24-hour community fridge and pantry in Covington, Kentucky, co-founded by Brian Goessling and Missy Spears in 2021; it also provides a harm-reduction vending machine, a microwave, and hot and cold water.

Goessling says COVUnity serves people experiencing both persistent food insecurity and temporary setbacks, and urges public officials to volunteer at food programs and listen to people who have experienced hunger.

Stahler calls on people to urge state and federal elected officials to restore SNAP, delay additional state cost shares and make the program work for those who need it; Lynch says SNAP is central to tackling hunger and supporting the broader food-security system, and hopes advocacy will improve SNAP and related support.