RESOURCES:
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
MDHHS instructed by USDA to temporarily pause issuance of November SNAP benefits
University of Michigan School of Public Health
TRANSCRIPTION:
Caroline MacGregor: You're listening to 89.1 WEMU. I'm Caroline MacGregor. Today, we're talking about SNAP benefits. It's the nation's largest nutrition assistance program. Over a million Michiganders rely on SNAP to eat. However, a directive from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has instructed states like Michigan to hold off until further notice on sending these electronic files that reload monthly funds to EBT cards. I'm speaking with Kate Bauer. She's an associate professor of nutritional sciences at the School of Public Health with the University of Michigan. Her expertise includes SNAP benefits, as well as other aid for those struggling to afford food. First of all, thank you so much for joining me today, Kate!
Dr. Kate Bauer: Absolutely! Thanks for having me!
Caroline MacGregor: So, we're in pretty dire times right now. There's been a lot of federal cuts. The government shutdown is creating havoc. One of the programs hit hardest is SNAP. And this is of huge concern to people here in Michigan, as well as the rest of the country. Tell me about the impact, if you would, locally in Washtenaw County.
Dr. Kate Bauer: You know, families that receive SNAP benefits...to receive SNAP benefits, you have to have quite a low income. So, these are families that are already really struggling. I know many families across the state that rely on SNAP benefits, and they are constantly, even when they get their SNAP benefits, working incredibly hard to make their food dollars stretch and try to figure out how they can pay for all of their other expenses and still afford ideally healthy food for their children. So,I believe the statistic is that 8% of Washtenaw County residents receive SNAP benefits. That's a bit lower than some other counties across the state, because I think, statewide, we're at about 13% of families rely on SNAP. But still, the families that receive SNAP, it is critical. We know that SNAP is supposed to be supplemental. It's supposed to be added to families' budgets to pay for food. But the reality is, particularly these days when food is so expensive, SNAP is their primary source of money for food. It's, for many families, the only thing that enables them to get through the month. So, when families are going to lose on average $335 if the shutdown continues through November, that's going to make a massive difference in families' budgets. And I'm really, really concerned, and I know a lot of families out there are really concerned about how they're going to make this work. And if you take that away from being able to pay for food, where is the money going to come from? Are families not going to pay their utilities? Are they not going to be able to pay for a car that has broken down that enables them to get to work? Something's got to give.
Caroline MacGregor: Yeah, I was just going to ask you. This loss of money in SNAP benefits is going to have quite an impact, as far as families that are already struggling with bills. They may not be able to pay their rent. What are some of the other problems that you foresee happening here?
Dr. Kate Bauer: Yeah, I'm really concerned. There's the immediate effects of the cuts and that we're going to have more children who are hungry. Hopefully, those children are in school and can benefit from our school programs. Hopefully, families of younger children are going to participate in WIC, but there are going to be more children who don't get dinner some nights. And that's going to have long-term impacts. So, I'm worried about those families. I'm also really worried that how people are going to have to make decisions for the month of November. As you said, they may not be able to pay their rent. They may not be able to pay their utilities. They're going to be moving things around. And those choices have really long-term impacts and can put families even deeper in a hole for many months to come after November.
Caroline MacGregor: If you're just joining us, I'm speaking with U of M School of Public Health associate professor Kate Bauer about the suspension of SNAP benefits this November. There's a lot of stereotypes that surround people who depend on SNAP benefits for whatever reasons. But tell me who are these people and families that depend on SNAP. I think people are kind of under the assumption that these people are just sitting around not working. That's not the case, is it?
Dr. Kate Bauer: It's absolutely not the case! So, even before this past spring's One Big Beautiful Bill that changed the work requirements, there already were work requirements for able-bodied adults on SNAP. So, families are working. Families also want to work. No family, I have spoken to, we've worked with over 1,300 families from across Michigan who are experiencing food insecurity, they would love to be independent. They would love to have a job that offered them a livable wage, so they didn't have to rely on our social safety nets. No one is sitting at home choosing to just get money from the government. It's a really terribly inaccurate stereotype. The families I know that are dependent on SNAP are dealing with acute health issues. My friend Dana, who lives up near Traverse City, her husband just had a quadruple bypass and is on paid leave from work. And so, they, for the first time, received their SNAP benefits last month. And I spoke with her yesterday, and she doesn't know what they're going to do. Dana is taking on her third part-time job to try to make ends meet while her husband's not able to work. I know other families where it doesn't make sense and they can't afford child care. They can't find a job that would pay enough to make it worth putting their child in child care, right? So, people are just struggling. It's so hard to get ahead. The system is set up to just be one knock after the other. And those are the families that are relying on SNAP. They are really trying their best and really want to get out of this position. And I think we're fortunate to have SNAP. You know, I don't want to live in a community where children are going hungry. I want my tax dollars to go to feeding children and reinvesting in our communities. And that's what SNAP is when it's working correctly.
Caroline MacGregor: I'm speaking with U of M School of Public Health associate professor Kate Bauer about the suspension of SNAP benefits this November. You know, you mentioned your friends' health issues, and there's people with disabilities too who really rely on this. They don't have options to work.
Dr. Kate Bauer: No, exactly. There are people with disabilities. There are many, many seniors. I mean, what do we expect? Someone who is 70 and has been out of the workforce is going to go, all of a sudden, be able to get a job to cover their needs. That's ridiculous!
Caroline MacGregor: Yeah.
Dr. Kate Bauer: This program is there for a reason. And it's going to be really, really disruptive if those November benefits don't come.
Caroline MacGregor: I know that Alex Hill, he's the project director of the Detroit Food Map Initiative, which basically surveys food access. And he says that SNAP households will, like you say, feel a wide range of effects. But also, he pointed out the fact that children won't be able to learn as effectively as they should. People who rely on taking medications on a regular basis, he says often they have to take those with food. You know, this is a pretty broad implication here.
Dr. Kate Bauer: Absolutely! You know, one of my favorite research studies, to kind of be a bit of a nerd about it, was out by a colleague of mine in San Francisco. And she was looking at emergency room admissions for individuals with diabetes as the month went on and as people's SNAP benefits ran out. And what she found is that, by the end of the month, when families could not afford food, the number of ER admissions for hypoglycemic events--for serious complications related to diabetes--went up incredibly. So, that's a situation where we had food stamps, and they still weren't enough. We are going to be in a situation where, yes, families are showing up at emergency rooms. They're not able to get the food they need to manage their chronic health conditions. We're going to have children showing up at school hungry and unable to focus, unable to learn. And that affects all of us. I don't want my child sitting in a classroom and having the children around them suffering. And that affects the learning of everyone in the school. So, I really feel like this loss of SNAP is going to harm our community. It's much more than the individual level effect of the loss of benefits.
Caroline MacGregor: This is the ripple effect of the government's inability to come to an agreement and keep the government open and then, more critically, to cut a program like this that is so important to the well-being of families here in Washtenaw County, as well as around the state and country.
Dr. Kate Bauer: Yeah, I mean, SNAP is the strongest evidence-based program to reduce poverty in this country. We have decades of research on this, and it is one of the smartest investments that we can make. And unfortunately, we're not choosing to invest in our families. I think the other piece that is really important to focus on is the loss of SNAP revenue to food retailers in our neighborhoods, right? So, in Michigan, Michigan's food retailers redeem about $300 million in SNAP benefits every month. So, that means that if the November benefits don't come, our grocery stores, our corner stores are going to lose $300 million of revenue. And I'm not sure that all retailers can handle that kind of loss. So, what does that mean? Are more people going to be laid off? Are retailers going to have to raise the price of food for those of us who can still afford to buy some food? This, again, has much broader ripple effects through communities than a lot of people realize.
Caroline MacGregor: My guest today has been U of M School of Public Health associate professor Kate Bauer, and we've been talking about the government's decision to suspend SNAP food benefits this November. Thank you for joining me today, Kate!
Dr. Kate Bauer: Thank you so much!
Caroline MacGregor: For more information regarding SNAP benefit cuts, visit WEMU.org. This is 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti, your community NPR station.
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