What to Know About SNAP as Funding Is Set to Run Out

The federal government pays out $100 billion a year in food assistance to 42 million Americans through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Those funds were set to lapse on Saturday for the first time ever, a result of the government shutdown. The prospect of its absence has set off a scramble among recipients, retailers and food banks. Overall, U.S. retailers count on SNAP for about 9% of non-restaurant food spending.

“It’s definitely panic,” said Chelsea Delahanty, a stay-at-home mother of five whose family depends on about $950 a month in federal food assistance in addition to her husband’s landscaping job. The payments have kept her family fed, said the 41-year-old, who lives in Greene County, Ohio.