It hasn’t taken long for Fairfax County food banks to feel the effects of the federal government shutdown.
More empty shelves than expected greeted Rep. James Walkinshaw during a visit to Food for Others in Merrifield yesterday (Monday). He had stopped by the Western Fairfax Christian Ministries’ food pantry in Chantilly earlier that day.
“I wasn’t expecting to see the literally empty shelves where [U.S. Department of Agriculture] food should exist,” Walkinshaw said after a tour of the Merrifield food bank. “This moment that we’re in, yes, it’s about the shutdown, yes, it’s about the SNAP uncertainty, but it’s also about the 10 months that we’ve gone through with federal cuts to food programs like this.”
As the government shutdown nears a record length, the Trump administration proclaimed that “the well has run dry” on the program, threatening to cut off the federal disbursement of monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on Nov. 1.
After a federal judge ordered the government to disburse SNAP benefits, the Trump administration said in court filings yesterday that it will use $4.65 billion in contingency funds to partially fund the program, though officials indicated that it could take “a few weeks to up to several months” to restart.
This morning, however, President Donald Trump contradicted the court filings, saying in a social media post that SNAP benefits won’t be funded until the government shutdown ends. Plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the administration’s refusal to fund SNAP are pushing for the program to be fully restored.
Meanwhile, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency last week and launched a new state-run Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance program to fund 25% of recipients’ monthly benefits each week.
Somebody who would normally receive $200 a month, for example, is now receiving $50 per week. Though it totals the same amount at the end of each month, the new approach has dramatically influenced shopping habits and increased confusion among residents.
“They won’t be able to go out and do their normal monthly grocery shopping. They’re going to have to recalibrate their grocery shopping process and purchase a lot less for their families today,” Walkinshaw said. “That’s why organizations like this are such a big deal.”
On Monday alone, Food for Others served more than 100 people in only three hours, according to executive director Deb Haynes.
But now food banks have more concerns: will they receive enough contributions to meet the growing demand?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for administering SNAP, has also limited the role of the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which normally provides food to state and local governments across the country.
“The Trump administration has tried to weaponize hunger, just as they did when the shutdown started and they tried to weaponize mass firings of federal workers,” Walkinshaw said.
“Their efforts to deny people their SNAP benefits is illegal,” Walkinshaw added. “It is despicable what the Trump administration is doing, but thankfully, we’re fighting back, and we’re going to continue to fight until folks have the support that they need.”
Long-term, Walkinshaw isn’t convinced that feeding low-income residents is a priority for the current administration, noting that the spending and tax bill passed by Congress and signed by Trump in July drastically reduced funding for SNAP and other safety net programs.
“What worries me is that, if the provisions that passed in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill — which include another $186 billion of cuts to SNAP — the next time I come to this food bank, I’ll see more empty shelves next to the empty USDA shelves that are there,” Walkinshaw said.
For any Fairfax County residents in need of food assistance, the county has a map of emergency distribution sites.
