The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a U.S. federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance to low- and no-income individuals to help them maintain adequate nutrition and health.
The benefits, which support more than 42 million Americans, were temporarily paused during the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, which started on Oct. 1, 2025 and ended on Nov. 13, 2025.
According to data from 2022, over 151,000 people from 73,000 households receive SNAP benefits in Utah. Due to the over a month-long pause on benefits, Utahns and local organizations are adapting to the temporary halt in support.
Effects on Salt Lake City food banks
Amid recent SNAP benefit cuts, Utah food banks are experiencing a sharp rise in visitors. “We were already very busy, and the government shutdown basically just made it worse,” said Glen Bailey, executive director of Crossroads Urban Center in Salt Lake City. “We’ve seen record days of people being served in the last week — a lot of need, and a lot of people who were uncertain about what was going to happen next.”
Bailey, who has led the Crossroads Urban Center since 1992, oversees two year-round emergency food pantries that serve hundreds of Salt Lake City residents. “We’re a key part of the secondary food network for people who can’t always go to the grocery store and buy what they need,” Bailey said.
Ginette Bott, president and CEO of the Utah Food Bank since 2017, said the pause left many families with far fewer resources than they needed. “For every one meal a food bank can provide, SNAP can provide nine,” she said.
“SNAP is a far more effective way to get groceries into a home. Families can’t rely on a pantry to supply everything they need,” Bott said. “So when those benefits were reduced, it was devastating — families suddenly had far less food available to them.”
Bott explained that the Utah Food Bank supports more than 300 pantries and partner organizations statewide, many of which belong to nonprofits that also provide services like utility and rent assistance. When the shutdown halted government funding, those programs “vanished overnight,” leaving partner organizations with sudden budget gaps.
Government reopening
Bott said the food bank is closely monitoring the situation. Once the government fully reopens and releases SNAP funds, Utah will distribute those benefits quickly — potentially within a day, she said.
However, Bott added that even once benefits resume, families will still be behind. “There’s a lot of catch-up to do. We’re heading into the most expensive time of year for families — the holiday season. Just because the government reopens and November benefits go out doesn’t mean families are made whole immediately. It takes time for them to get their cash flow back on track.”
Bailey noted that while government programs will eventually resume, with SNAP benefits flowing again and federal employees returning to work, many of the shutdown’s ripple effects will continue to affect the community. “We’re also watching changes to the food stamp and Medicaid programs that came out of the One Big Beautiful Bill that was passed over the summer,” Bailey said.
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) into law. The legislation–projected to cost $3.4 trillion over the next decade–extends the tax cuts first introduced in 2016, directs more than $170 billion toward border enforcement, reduces funding for programs such as Medicaid and SNAP and implements a broad set of additional policy changes. “Those changes will impose additional work requirements on older adults and on people with children,” Bailey said. “Some of these policies are very likely to affect families and their access to resources moving forward.”
Post-shutdown
With the shutdown ending, Bailey and Bott noted that several changes will be necessary to prevent similar impacts in the future. “Programs where federal benefits flow through states or local governments, like SNAP and WIC, the Women, Infants and Children program, should be protected from funding disruptions so people can continue receiving services, especially when demand rises,” Bailey said.
Bott stated similarly that the government must omit programs like SNAP and WIC from political discussions. “Never, ever, should an American citizen be made or forced to be hungry and be used as a pawn because of a discussion or a point that can’t be agreed on in Washington,” she said. “These programs need to be funded.”
