The Trump administration, co-president Elon Musk, and Congressional Republicans are taking a wrecking ball to the federal government, with profound implications for food security, food assistance programs, medical care, and early childhood education.
Some of the highlights:
Cancelled $1 billion in funding for programs designed to help schools and food banks purchase fresh produce from local farms.
Plan to cut $230 billion from SNAP, by reducing benefits and restricting eligibility (to enable massive tax cuts for billionaires).
Plan to cut $880 billion from Medicaid (to enable massive tax cuts for billionaires).
Wiped out the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) office that administered grants to Meals on Wheels.
Aim to severely restrict states’ and schools’ ability to offer free school meals to all students without collecting burdensome and intrusive applications.
Shut down five of the ten regional Head Start offices designed to support local Early Head Start and Head Start child care programs. These programs often serve home-cooked meals to their kids, supported through reimbursements from the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).
Laid off the HHS staff who manage the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps people keep air conditioning on in the summer and heat running in the winter.
All of this is going to lead to increased poverty and hunger. We won’t even be able to measure the magnitude of the need, because Musk’s rogue Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) fired the office at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that develops and updates the federal poverty guidelines. The poverty guidelines also are the basis for measuring how many people are below the poverty line, and understanding their characteristics. As I’ve written before, the poverty guidelines are outdated and flawed, but they are the only legally accepted means for determining eligibility for many public assistance programs, like SNAP, Medicaid, school meals, TANF, housing assistance, and many more. It is not clear what will happen to the guidelines or to the programs built around the guidelines if the office in charge of them is effectively gone.
This is a man-made (specific to two or a handful of men) humanitarian disaster unfolding before our eyes. We may not be able to measure the full impact, but it will be massive and catastrophic. Even public benefits that are not dismantled by DOGE will strain to meet the rapidly growing needs as more and more Americans fall into poverty and food insecurity. If SNAP is gutted, by law or by malicious bureaucratic neglect, we will see skyrocketing hunger and malnutrition. The emergency food network of food banks and pantries and food gleaners and rescuers is not equipped to meet the skyrocketing need we are going to see. Emergency food assistance provides one meal for every nine provided by SNAP.
The anti-hunger movement is multifaceted: food bankers, food pantry managers, volunteers, food gleaners, public benefits advocates and lawyers, technologists, and many more. We do not always agree on the best ways to fight hunger. Those are important debates to have.
But right now? We do not have the luxury of focusing on the one “best” way to fight hunger. To stave off the worst case scenario of rampant deprivation and malnutrition, we need all hands on deck. To borrow the title of one of the best films of this century, we need to do everything, everywhere, all at once:
Advocate for better policies at the federal, state, and local levels
Volunteer to provide SNAP and WIC outreach and application assistance
Donate money, food, and/or time to food banks, pantries, soup kitchens, and homeless shelters
Set up or give to a local little free food pantry
Donate money or time to gleaning/food rescue efforts
Support local mutual aid groups
Contribute to or advocate for local guaranteed/basic income programs
Work with state and local governments to streamline public benefits administration (if you’re a civic technologist)
Donate time, money, or diaper supplies to a diaper bank
Support programs providing free period products
Support clothing racks for homeless individuals
And much more (free health clinics, mobile dental clinics, free community events with food, etc.)
This moment in American history calls us to be generous, creative, and persistent. The sum of what we collectively do will not be enough to end hunger, or even to keep it from getting worse. It feels terrible to write that, because it is absolutely tragic. Ending hunger will require profoundly different policy choices. But the more we do, the less people will suffer. We owe it to each other to do what we can to keep hunger at bay for as many as we can, with as much dignity and compassion as we can manage.
But that first item in the list above–advocacy–is particularly critical right now, because cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and school meals have not happened yet! They can still be stopped! Today, and every day, is a GREAT day to call your representative and senators, urging them to protect SNAP, Medicaid, and school meals. ESPECIALLY if your members of Congress are Republicans! Let them feel the heat. Call them now! The Capitol Hill Switchboard will direct you to your Rep or Senator: (202) 224-3121.
As we summon our energy and resources to keep our communities fed, we will also need to have conversations about what we want our society to look like, to guide us in rebuilding from the ashes of what the Trump administration is actively burning down. A new social contract is essential to ensuring we truly do build back better when we have the opportunity to do so. As important as it is to be AGAINST everything the Trump administration stands for, it is equally imperative to have a shared understanding of what we are FOR.
My vision for that social contract? I don’t have all the answers by any stretch, but here’s a start:
Everyone must be assured that their basic needs will be met in a simple and dignified way.
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility must be at the core of the new social contract.
The voices of people from historically marginalized and oppressed communities must be centered.
The social contract must work for EVERYONE. Nobody gets left behind.
What did I miss? How should we focus our energy to fight the coming rising tide of hunger and poverty? What is your vision for a new social contract? Let me know in the comments!
I’ll put ideas for advocacy, volunteering, and donations in the notes.