Food insecurity is a growing crisis in our communities, and recent federal budget proposals threaten to put more families at risk. Each week, more than 1,200 of our neighbors walk through the doors of North Valley Food Bank in Whitefish – triple from 2019.
In the first quarter of 2025 alone, we facilitated 6,240 pantry visits, up more than 20% from the first quarter of 2024.
While food pantries and federal assistance programs have long served as safety nets for our neighbors who struggle to make ends meet, cuts to programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid and school meals – combined with recent funding cuts to federal aid to food pantries and the possibility of rising food costs – are putting these essential lifelines at risk.
The proposed 2025 federal budget resolution includes a $230 billion cut to SNAP over the next 10 years. This would reduce monthly benefits for families by an estimated $60 per household. In Montana, more than 80,000 people rely on SNAP benefits to ensure they can put food on the table. Moreover, SNAP is critical for Montana’s economy as it injects an estimated $160 million into our state annually.
The federal budget proposal would also tighten eligibility for free school meals by rolling back the Community Eligibility Provision, which allows schools in communities with high poverty levels to provide free meals to all students. If implemented, over 10,000 children in Montana could lose access to free school meals. Further, Summer EBT, a program helping families feed children during summer break, relies on school meal eligibility. Children would therefore be impacted year-round.
Adding to the pressure are proposed Medicaid cuts of nearly $880 billion. While Medicaid is a health care program, it impacts food insecurity. Families forced to pay out-of-pocket for medical care will have less money for groceries.
Meanwhile, food pantries like ours are already having to navigate major funding losses. In the past two weeks, the USDA cancelled $500 million from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) – funding designated from the Commodity Credit Corporation, which supplied food pantries with essential items like meat, dairy, and produce. The Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program was also discontinued. It funded food pantries to buy fresh food from local farmers, strengthening both nutrition and local agriculture.
Without these funds, we expect an estimated funding shortfall of $250,000. Our rural pantry partners will feel a disproportionate impact, as the majority of food we deliver to them is TEFAP food.
History has shown that we will likely see increased demand for food assistance in the coming months. When the temporary pandemic SNAP boosts ended in 2023, food pantries across the country saw an immediate surge in need. At the time, North Valley Food Bank’s visits increased by 30%.
In light of the reduction of funding and the anticipated increase of demand, we are expanding our store hours to serve more families safely and equitably. We have acquired a larger off-site warehouse to make wholesale bulk purchases, stretch every dollar, and secure sustainable protein sources. Our Farm to Food Bank program is gearing up for another fruitful season, where local volunteers will help us harvest thousands of pounds of produce from nearby farms, at no cost. And this year, our culinary team is preparing for batch processing of seasonal produce after completing a Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) training. This will allow us to order large quantities of produce during the growing season and process them into sauce or wash, vacuum seal and freeze them. This will be more cost effective than buying canned produce.
None of this work is possible without our community. As federal support decreases, we are deeply grateful for your support. You keep food on the table for thousands of our neighbors. If you are wondering how to help now, we invite you to make a donation, volunteer your time, or contact your representatives and urge them to protect public benefit programs and restore funding for food pantries.
You can make a real difference.
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