SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — As the government shutdown drags on, rural communities are bracing for more difficult days ahead with everything from food banks to nutrition education programs are being impacted.
At the Skagit Valley Neighbors in Need Food Bank, Director Steve Fox is fed up with the government shutdown.
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“Oh, it drives me nuts. There’s no reason for this,” Fox said.
Volunteers at the food bank are preparing for as many as 600 people at this week’s food distribution, which includes 30,000 pounds of food. Numbers have been steadily growing in recent weeks.
“For us, it’s just a matter of do we have enough food and how long will we have enough food?” Fox said. “That’s what keeps me up at night.”
Rural communities have a higher percentage of people receiving SNAP benefits than in the state’s urban centers, making cuts in Skagit County run even deeper. Nearly 16,000 people in Skagit County depend on federal SNAP benefits. That’s roughly 16% of the population. It’s double the number in King County and well above the state average of 11%.
“We see a lot of farm workers, a lot of low income families and a lot of families with a lot of children,” Fox said.
While SNAP funding has been partially restored through the end of the month, other programs like SNAP-ED are gone for good. In its 33rd year, the program brought nutritional and financial information to 1.3 million people across the state every year, teaching people how to stretch their benefits to the fullest and make healthy food choices. The program closes permanently at the end of the year.
“A recent study showed for every one dollar spent on SNAP-ED, over five dollars are saved in the long run from reduced health care costs, educational attainment, life expectancy,” said Jen Moss, a member of the program’s curriculum team.
The elimination will hit rural counties especially hard, specifically farm worker families already struggling with food insecurity amid immigration crackdowns.
“For especially the farmworkers there is so much fear even just to go to the food bank, which is supposed to be a safe place to offer food,” an the program’s Mariah Brown-Pounds.
Back at the food bank, Steve Fox worries how much longer he can keep his shelves stocked with cold weather and the holidays just ahead.
“I’m constantly wondering if I’m going to have enough food for the next two or three weeks,” Fox said. “Right now we’re in good shape but if this continues we’re gonna be scratching and clawing.”
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