THE GORGE — With President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” now law, hundreds of thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest will lose access to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps — even though people were already falling through the gaps.
The budget bill would strip at least $186 billion worth of food aid from low-income Americans over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. While the House and Senate debated specific provisions in recent weeks, both chambers eventually agreed on how to achieve those cuts: expanding work requirements, eliminating assistance for certain immigrants and mandating states take on a greater share of the cost.
State officials estimate that 108,000 Oregonians and about 170,000 people in Washington will forfeit food stamps as a result. In the Mid-Columbia region, one in three households worried about running out of food and one in five actually ran out of food back in 2015, according to a survey conducted by the Columbia Gorge Food Security Coalition, which includes several local nonprofits and health organizations.
“People are really struggling, and I think sometimes even those numbers can be underrepresented because people just don’t want to acknowledge or admit that they’re not able to provide for their families,” said Lauren Kraemer, an associate professor of practice at Oregon State University (OSU). “It’s really an issue of poverty, and we’re not able to help lift people out of poverty when we have such unmeetable expenses.”
Nearly 2,000 households responded to the coalition’s survey, and Kraemer, who works at OSU’s extension office in Hood River, emphasized that people still experienced food insecurity despite receiving benefits. In fact, those on SNAP and other initiatives like the Women, Children and Infants (WIC) program were 12% more likely to run out of food than people without assistance.
Preliminary survey data indicates that local food insecurity has worsened in the decade since, too. Up against continued inflation, the end of pandemic-era relief programs and other factors, 37% of participants reported they either sometimes or often ran out of food. Although only 851 households have responded to the coalition’s ongoing survey, which you can complete by visiting beav.es/GorgeFoodSurvey, that’s almost double the 2015 figure.
“Those programs, even if folks were able to access them, were not meeting their needs,” said Kraemer.
Currently, SNAP requires able-bodied adults between the ages of 18-54 without dependents to work at least 80 hours a month to access food stamps. The budget bill expands that age range to 64 and adds work requirements for parents whose children are at least 14 years old. Previously exempt veterans, former foster youth and people experiencing houselessness will need to work as well.
Similar to Medicaid, several studies show that SNAP work requirements lead to no significant increases in employment, but simply cause more people to lose their benefits.
Since its inception, the federal government has always fully funded SNAP benefits, but the budget bill also changes that formula depending on “error rates,” or how much states over or underpay for benefits, and adds administrative costs. Oregon’s error rate of 14.06% is among the nation’s highest, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while Washington’s sits at 6.06%. In effect, the two states will have to come up with an estimated $425 million and $188 million every year, respectively, when both provisions begin in 2028, funds not previously accounted for.
“We just do not have the kind of money that it would take to maintain the program at the current level if these cuts go through,” said Oregon Governor Tina Kotek Kotek during a press conference in May. “It will just not happen, and people will go hungry in Oregon.”
Additionally, the bill dismantles SNAP-Ed, a program designed to provide nutrition education, promote physical activity and help low-income people lead healthier lives. Kraemer and about 100 OSU employees across the state develop recipes using fresh, local produce; bring tasting tables into schools; send out batches of seeds accompanied with gardening tips; and much more.
“We have gotten really far from understanding our food system and where it comes from,” said Kraemer. “It’s just sad that we’ve spent this time and effort building and brokering those relationships and connecting farms to schools, and a lot of that will just go away.”
An economic ripple effect
“When those programs go away, local farmers lose a lot of revenue as well,” said Hannah Nanda, the director of farmers market operations, communication and outreach for Gorge Grown, a nonprofit that’s building out local food resiliency. “It’s not just the folks who are using those benefits — it’s also the farmers who are accepting them.”
Through its SNAP matching programs, Gorge Grown doubles or triples food stamp dollars for eligible people at farmers markets in Hood River, Odell, White Salmon, The Dalles and Stevenson. Based on data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average SNAP benefits per person in Oregon and Washington amounts to about $6 every day. In stretching those limited funds, Nanda and several local growers see the initiative as a win-win for all parties involved.
“You’re getting more nutrition,” said Stan Starr, who owns Comfort Starr Farms with his wife, Sarah, in Hood River. “I think why people shop here is because most of the items are just better quality and more nutritious than what they’re going to find in a supermarket.”
“From a vendor’s point of view, it’s a great program. For the person who has SNAP, it’s a great deal because they’re tripling your money,” said Ronnie Tannenbaum of Nature’s Finest Farm in Parkdale.
Starr, Tannenbaum and two other growers estimated that SNAP match dollars generate anywhere from 5% to 30% of their revenue at the market in Hood River. Cutting food assistance at the federal level will likely hurt their bottom lines, and the same applies to small, rural grocery stores. On average, Nanda said that 64 people use SNAP match every Saturday across from Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, and noted the program wouldn’t be able to operate as it currently stands now that benefits got slashed.
As a result of improved health, educational and employment outcomes, one study also found that every SNAP dollar invested in children returns $62 in value over their lifetimes.
More strain on food banks
Beyond SNAP recipients and producers, reductions in food assistance impact another area of hunger relief: food banks. Last year, the Columbia Gorge Food Bank and pantry partners had more than 77,000 visits, and statewide, the Oregon Food Bank network saw a record 2.5 million visits, a 31% jump compared to the year prior.
“We are not the primary driver of food security. We are there when something happens in somebody’s life,” said Breen Goodwin, executive director of the Columbia Gorge Food Bank. “The food banking and food pantry system is already operating well beyond the design of our system.”
In March, USDA axed $500 million from the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which buys food from domestic farmers and sends it to distributors nationwide. Additionally, USDA eliminated to other programs designed to get locally grown food to vulnerable communities and schools.
All three programs are housed under USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, which accounts for 15% to 20% of the food flowing through Goodwin’s warehouse, or about 250,000 pounds of food annually. While produce levels remain steady, the Columbia Gorge Food Bank rarely has milk and eggs, and struggles to supply enough flour.
“We’re at a point right now that our visits and need are so high that we’re seeing folks year over year,” said Goodwin in late June. “If things like SNAP get reduced or cut, we’re going to be providing less and less, and that’s not what anyone wants.”
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