Illinois Senator Dick Durbin warned of the increased difficulties to feed families in need throughout the state as cuts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and slashes to assistance programs like Medicaid and SNAP threaten to increase food instability.
“There are families struggling to get by and put basic food on the table,” Durbin told reporters at the West Town Nurishing Hope warehouse Friday morning. “People who need this the most are virtually invisible. We live our daily lives and we don’t see them.”
While nearly 6,000 jobs hang in the balance at the USDA as an independent federal board looks into their termination, the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement program both were canceled for 2025 because they “no longer effectuate the goals of the agency,” the USDA said in a statement.
Cuts on SNAP, which on average provides an estimated $6.16 a day to recipients, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, would threaten to increase food insecurity across the state, according to Durbin.
“We shouldn’t be considering a program that ‘makes America hungry again,'” Durbin said.
Durbin, who shook hands and conversed with several volunteers packaging produce, said he was “going to do what I can in Washington to stop this effort.”
“We want to make sure that families, our children particularly, get the basics that they need to survive,” Durbin said.
Nourishing Hope, a service organization that offers food, mental health and social services, has provided 35 percent more services for those in need of food without there being any cuts to benefits like SNAP.
“The need is increasing and we are definitely hustling to meet that need even without the cuts to programs like SNAP,” Natia Barnett, Program Expansion Manager with Nourishing Hope, told reporters. “With the USDA cuts, food for our organization becomes more expensive, which limits our ability to support these families.”
About half of those who come to Nourishing Hope for food rely on SNAP benefits, interim CEO Jennie Hull told the Sun-Times. Enduring cuts to the program would “be a real challenge.”
“Even though we are a large organization and we serve a lot of folks, we already feel like we’re at capacity in terms of resources,” Hull said. “Most people live just one paycheck away from needing a food pantry.”
“It’s going to be all pantries that feel this,” Hull added. “I hope [Nourishing Hope] can meet the demand that it has in the past.”