Due to the federal government shutdown, USDA, which administers Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will be unable to distribute benefits starting November 1.
Here are the latest stories, resources and background information on what is happening.
If you need food assistance, dial 211 or visit mi211.org/food-assistance
The Latest
Joe Raedle
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Getty Images
SNAP, also known as food stamps, has seen a rapid and consistent participation decline since last July. The drop comes as the program faces historic cuts and changes.
Beenish Ahmed
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Michigan Public
Caroline Yang for NPR
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The Trump administration says the USDA will pause food aid funding to Michigan and other Democratic-led states unless they provide records of who's getting SNAP benefits. -
Michigan State University hires a new football coach, a Detroit-based food journalist talks about using SNAP benefits, and a biology professor discusses how wildlife survives Michigan winters. -
Brooke Rollins has made a case for sweeping changes to food aid programs by claiming USDA has uncovered "massive fraud." But she and USDA haven't provided the underlying data or any evidence. -
We learned about what food prices can tell us about the economy, sustainable products for curly hair, and a fatal car accident involving a Ford test vehicle that is still unresolved a year later.
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School officials are working on policy changes that they say would improve students’ access to food. The changes would allow students to get an evening meal even if they aren’t in after-school care. -
Four Michiganders facing food insecurity shared what the uncertainty over SNAP benefits has meant for their families. Some have had to cut back on fresh produce, or consider other income sources. -
As the dispute over food stamp funding drags on, Detroit mom Symone Wilkes has come a long way to stabilize life for herself and her two boys. She’s one of nearly a million and a half Michigan families dealing with the uncertain future of SNAP funding. -
After a week of whiplash in which federal food aid benefits were closed off, then opened, then closed again, Michigan now says SNAP recipients "should receive full benefit payments on their normally scheduled date." -
First, some clarifications on food aid during the government shutdown, followed by one Michigander SNAP recipient's story. Then, a survivor of a fishing boat's capsizing, caused by the same storm which sunk the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, shares his memory of that day. Plus, Michigan Public's On Hand featured a listener's tale of a supernatural encounter.
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Some Michiganders began receiving SNAP benefits again Friday, but by the end of the day, the U.S. Supreme Court had reversed an order requiring the federal government to resume the program in full.
