We Are on the Verge of a Hunger Crisis
October 27, 2025
By Dr. Kimberly Stoner, CT NOFA Director of Policy and Advocacy
If the Federal government shutdown continues, on November 1 the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will halt for the 10% of Connecticut residents who rely on it. SNAP serves about 360,000 people in our state. Connecticut distributes about $75 million per month in federal SNAP benefits, with many households receiving roughly $190.
The basic facts are laid out in this article from the CT Mirror:
- The Department of Agriculture has directed state governments to shut down the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards that SNAP recipients use to buy food on November 1, if the shutdown is still going.
- No new benefits will be sent out for November until the shutdown ends or the state gets different information from the Department of Agriculture, and any unused benefits will not be able to be used after October 31.
- Because of the way this is being handled, the state cannot simply use its surplus or rainy day funds to replace Federal SNAP funds. The state would have to set up a whole new system to replace the EBT cards, which would take months.
- The state is working with Connecticut Foodshare, food pantries, and other non-profit organizations to get food to the people who will need it.
This situation is not normal. This is not what happened in previous shutdowns. This, and other unprecedented shutdown actions, such as canceling money for energy and transportation projects in blue states, firing Federal workers during the shutdown, and threatening not to provide back pay for furloughed Federal workers, are all tactics to increase the pressure on Congress to pass the appropriations bill and end the shutdown.
One solution would be to apply pressure to Senators to pass the appropriations bill and end the shutdown, but that would sacrifice the subsidies that keep the premiums for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act from exploding. CT NOFA is not taking that path, and neither are the other NOFA chapters or our allied family farm and sustainable agriculture organizations. We can’t just sacrifice health care (critically important for farmers, among many others without corporate or government health insurance) to end the shutdown.
Here are actions we can take:
- Spread the word about this coming crisis.
- Make sure that SNAP recipients know what is coming and prepare as best they can.
- Support our family members, neighbors, and community members who rely on SNAP (and also those who are not being paid during the shutdown).
- Support Connecticut Foodshare, local food pantries, food rescue organizations, and any other organizations getting food to those who need it.
- Support local farmers and markets, many of whom donate food to the hungry, and who will be losing their customers.
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Advocacy News: May 2026
The Good News: CT Senator Chris Murphy has introduced a bill (bipartisan and bicameral) to increase funding for Agricultural Management Assistance to $30 million and to expand the eligible uses for these funds to include “soil health improvements, composting, implementing organic farming, and food safety certification in addition to existing authorized uses such as water management structure and soil erosion control.” Let’s thank Senator Murphy for introducing this bill!
The Bad News: The Farm Bill passed the House of Representatives on April 30, despite 320 food, farm, and conservation organizations, including CT NOFA, voicing our opposition to a bill that does not fix SNAP, does not support new and beginning farmers, and does not adequately support conservation programs or organic agriculture. Now it goes to the Senate and we need to urge both of Connecticut’s Senators to reject this Farm Bill.
Our Vision for a Future of Resilient, Plentiful, Healthy and Locally-Grounded Farming and Food
In concluding its annual retreat, the Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council (NOFA IC) reaffirms the values that have grounded our work for 55 years.
Our vision is that every person is able to live their life with healthy food, clean water and air, community, livelihood, dignity, and purpose within the means of our life-giving planet. We seek that vision on every level, from our households and farms to our communities, states, bioregions, nation, and world. For that vision to be fulfilled, every person, no matter their origin or circumstances, must have all their basic human needs met without degrading the air, water, soil, ecosystems, and climate which we have been given and on which we depend for our lives.