TYLER, Texas — Starting March 1st, tens of millions of families across the country are going to see a reduction in their food stamps. The Covid era SNAP benefit increase has come to an end.
East Texas Food Bank CEO Dennis Cullinane said the SNAP rollback will also impact grocery stores bottom lines since that is where most SNAP benefits are spent.
"The reduction away from the COVID era SNAP benefit increase that we had is going to create more problems for people that have been trying to feed their families," Cullinane said. "These are COVID era benefits, but some of the COVID era problems really haven't gone away. I think we're seeing food inflation up 11% over this time last year."
Cullinane said the reduction of SNAP benefits will see longer lines and it will cause more strain on their partner pantries.
"It's going to really impact them because a lot of them are working on their own fixed budgets. We're gonna have to fill that gap that the benefits have left behind," Cullinane said. "So we're all going to have to work harder in order to continue to feed our neighbors. It's going to be a big hill that we're going to climb and we're going to make it through."
If you're interested in helping the East Texas Food Bank, visit their website.