‘It Goes Quick’: Virginians Stretch Dollars and Hope as SNAP Funding Freezes

Each month, when his Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds arrive, Daniel Garratt stocks up on meats and pantry staples like canned goods in bulk at Walmart. He then visits local discount or dollar stores for nonperishable items.

Richmond resident Daniel Garrett pets his cat Sawyer in their living room while he discusses how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program helps him afford to live. He has a disability, and much of his Social Security Income goes to paying rent each month. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)

Fresh produce, however, is something that he buys sporadically throughout the month at his neighborhood grocery store, The Market at 25th. There, he benefits from the Virginia Fresh Match program, which offers discounts on produce. Garratt has even invested in a vacuum sealer to make his food last longer and reduce waste.

Despite living in a facility for senior citizens and people with disabilities, much of his Social Security income still goes toward rent. Having been disabled for more than 20 years, Garratt has learned to get creative in stretching his dollars.

“My rent goes up every year,” he said, as his cat, Sawyer, curled up in his lap.

He’s watching November’s planned grocery haul with concern amid Congress’s monthlong government shutdown, which means Garratt — along with roughly 850,000 other Virginians — would not receive SNAP that month. Nationwide, more than 42 million people rely on the program.

SNAP helps low-income earners and people who can’t work afford groceries. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program, has told states to pause November payments until further notice.

At a press conference on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, said she and her colleagues are urging the USDA to tap into its contingency funding for SNAP. However, that $6 billion reserve falls short of the $8 billion needed to support those who depend on the program.

Virginia’s food banks also emphasized that they would be unable to absorb the higher demand if SNAP goes unfunded next month.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin has since declared a state of emergency, allowing him to use emergency funds to “provide food benefits.”

The Congressional stalemate has dragged on since early October, as federal lawmakers failed to agree on annual appropriations bills. Multiple attempts from members of both parties to pass a continuing resolution have collapsed.

Democrats have sought to extend federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act during negotiations, while Republicans — who control both chambers of Congress — have blamed Democrats for the shutdown. The U.S. Senate has continued to meet, but the U.S. House of Representatives has not convened in weeks.

“Congressional Democrats want to fund the government, and we have repeatedly asked Speaker Mike Johnson for over a month to gavel us back into session so that we can continue working on behalf of the American people,” McClellan said.

Meanwhile, Youngkin said his emergency order was “only necessary because of the shamelessness of Congressional Democrats.”

Richmond resident Asia Broadie uses the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to help offset grocery costs for her large family while she juggles single parenthood, full-time work and nursing school. Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury

The political back-and-forth has left Richmond resident Asia Broadie feeling stressed. A single mother of six, she balances a restaurant job with schooling to become a nursing assistant.

“It’s a constant daily journey. I try to manage it all,” she said as her washing machine hummed in the background of her Northside apartment. Dishes and laundry are just part of the juggling act as Broadie keeps her schedule — and her household — running.

While The Mercury accompanied Broadie to a store, she pointed to pantry staples — rice, noodles, canned vegetables — along with grab-and-go snacks like granola bars, yogurt and apples for her older children, who cycle in and out of the apartment. Like Garratt, she takes advantage of the Fresh Match program when buying fresh produce such as grapes and lettuce.

Meats are a key purchase, especially when she prepares large meals so her family can eat leftovers for a few days.

“I’m trying not to have to go to the store a lot and be cooking and making a mess every day. I run my dishwasher twice a day sometimes. They’re growing and they’re eating — it goes quick,” she said with a smile and a sigh.

Other effects to SNAP on the horizon

More than the shutdown’s impact on her SNAP benefits, Broadie has watched with concern as a reconciliation bill Congress passed this summer could lead to  people receiving less food assistance or losing eligibility altogether. The bill imposes additional verification requirements for recipients.

For his part, Youngkin issued a directive aimed at reducing error rates — the measure of overpayments and underpayments of SNAP benefits. The reconciliation bill stipulates that states with higher error rates will have to pay a portion of SNAP benefits to recipients that the federal government otherwise would otherwise cover. Virginia’s 12% error rate, outlined by Youngkin in the directive, must drop to 6% in the next two years to avoid paying $270 million annually.

The work is expected to be challenging for local governments, which administer food assistance and may need to rely on their staff to more closely scrutinize expenses and household compositions.

While Garratt and Broadie support efforts to ensure SNAP operates effectively, they warn against changes that could weaken the program. Broadie worries that stereotypes about recipients as people who “mooch” off the government have made it an easy target for federal funding cuts.

It’s disheartening, she said, reflecting on her own experience juggling school and work in hopes to one day no longer need SNAP.

“Also, imagine the people who literally cannot work,” she said. “This is going to be hard.”