This browser does not support the Video element.
How cuts to SNAP affect Chicago area food pantries | ChicagoNOW
Cuts in federal spending affecting the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, known as SNAP, are expected to impact food pantries in the Chicago area and the thousands of people they serve.
CHICAGO - More than 1.8 million people in Illinois rely on SNAP, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to help purchase groceries.
However, the Big Beautiful Bill Act will directly impact those benefits and related farm subsidies. The Illinois Department of Human Services estimates that 360,000 people are at risk of losing SNAP eligibility.
What we know:
With SNAP cuts and the cost of groceries rising in recent years, Chicago-area food banks and pantries are scrambling to prepare for even more demand.
At the height of the pandemic, SNAP lifted 4.2 million people in the U.S. above the poverty line, and it reduced poverty by 10% and cut child poverty by 14%.
"SNAP is a nutritional lifeline for millions of families in the U.S.," said Greater Chicago Food Depository’s Man-Yee Lee during an appearance on ChicagoNOW.
For every meal that a food bank like the Greater Chicago Food Depository provides, SNAP provides the equivalent of nine meals. Lee said that the way to alleviate the demand for the Greater Chicago Food Depository and Chicago-area food banks and pantries is to support your local food pantry by volunteering.
"Many hands make like work. We always welcome volunteers to come and help," she said.
The Greater Chicago Food Depository has many volunteer opportunities, including repacking food, driving smaller vans to transport materials to food pantries and advocating as a food equity ambassador in Springfield and D.C. for policy changes.
Anyone in need of assistance can visit the Greater Chicago Food Depository website to find the location of the nearest pantry to get food at no cost.
"With these SNAP changes that are about to happen, food insecurity is about to skyrocket and we are certainly bracing ourselves and needing to make sure that people are aware that this is happening and that we are here to help," Lee said.