Worrying about food

“The government shutdown is already the longest in American history. But it’s also perhaps the most punishing, in part because President Trump has taken actions no previous administration ever took during a shutdown.

“Over the past six weeks, the Trump administration cut food stamps for millions of low-income Americans. It tried to fire thousands of government workers and withhold back pay from others, while freezing or canceling money for projects in Democratic-led states.” (New York Times, November 10, 2025)

I am fortunate to have a secure life at the moment. However, I’m concerned about people throughout the country whose access to food is in jeopardy or is actually diminished by the cruel games being played by our president and his cronies in Congress. Here in Michigan, the state government has acted to continue food benefits (SNAP — Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). 

If you live in a different part of the USA, benefits for SNAP recipients may be disrupted, with congressional action perhaps about to provide some help. At the same time as food aid is disrupted, medical programs run by the federal government are almost certain to be decreased, with many people cut off from benefits that they depend on. It’s a horrendous situation, part of the autocratic takeover of our former democracy. 

I’ve collected some headlines about the Michigan food situation — and I’m making a contribution to the main food bank in our town, but I feel totally helpless watching the destruction of what we thought was the American way.

From an article in the Guardian by a SNAP recipient in Oregon:

“But it still seems to me that we, America’s low-income people, have been treated like lab animals in a sick political experiment. Oh good, they’re giving us food! Oh wait, they’re not.

“When I say ‘giving us food,’ it makes it sound like we do not work or do for ourselves. That is simply not true. Even with a regular allotment of Snap benefits and a handout from the food bank, it takes true ingenuity to get through the month. And while we are cooking beans from scratch, we are also working or hustling to find work.” …

“I quit being choosy at the food bank, and started picking up stuff I would not normally eat – AKA stockpiling food. Off-brand mac and cheese, a can of peaches. The thing about food insecurity is that you are always worrying. You are always doing mental math, figuring out how to substitute key ingredients or spruce up the pot of lentils you have been eating all week.”