Long lines have formed at food pantries across the U.S. as federal food benefits were cut off due to the government shutdown.

People across the country formed long lines for free meals and groceries at food pantries and drive-through giveaways Saturday, after monthly benefits through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, were suddenly cut off because of the ongoing government shutdown.

The delay in SNAP payments, a major piece of the nation’s social safety net that serves about 42 million people, has highlighted the financial vulnerabilities that many face. At the Bronx food pantry, the Rev. John Udo-Okon said “people from all walks of life” are seeking help now.

“The pantry is no longer for the poor, for the elderly, for the needy. The pantry now is for the whole community, everybody,” Udo-Okon said. “You see people will drive in their car and come and park and wait to see if they can get food.”

  • floofloof@lemmy.ca
    49·
    1 day ago

    I remember when the USA used to gloat about how in the USSR people had to stand in line for food.

      • GlitchyDigiBun@lemmy.worldEnglish
        253·
        23 hours ago

        I’d call that a stretch, but the last thread just snapped lmao. Russia has been categorically worse off than any developed nation since Barbarosa, and even then, they had only JUST modernized from a 70% peasantry. If you’re going to compare SNAP lines to soviet breadlines and see people walking out with fresh fruits and cheez-its as opposed to half a loaf of moldy bread for a family of 8, then what you’ve said is utterly delusional.

        • falseWhite@lemmy.world
          418·
          21 hours ago

          You can frame it however you want and measure whatever metrics you want to justify your opinion.

          It doesn’t change the fact that right now, I would rather live in communist Russia than fascist USA.

          Putin is playing Trump like a puppet.

          If you don’t see this, you are utterly delusional.

  • pinheadednightmare@lemmy.world
    581·
    1 day ago

    Thank king trump for not releasing the emergency funds that are there for this exact reason. Thank you for starving your people trump!

    • Verdant Banana@lemmy.worldEnglish
      723·
      1 day ago

      and thank you democrats too for never upgrading the minimum wage to a living wage that would continue to adjust as needed and thank them for not getting us universal healthcare and thank the democrats for never ensuring education was properly funded!

      definitely can’t forget to give thanks and to be thankful this month to our betters that serve the owner class the republicans and democrats

      O let us love our occupations, Bless the squire and his relations, Live upon our daily rations, And always know our proper stations,

      • pinheadednightmare@lemmy.world
        13·
        1 day ago

        Way to stay on topic, but yes… you’re on the right track, now look at it as……”thank you government for failing us”. We should stop fighting each other and fight who is responsible for all of this mess.

      • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
        101·
        1 day ago

        And thank the libertarians for Gary Johnson not knowing that Aleppo is a city in Syria and the greens for their disinterest in widespread local offices and lack of transparency, and the PSL for not running a more aggressive campaign or starting earlier, and the whigs for disbanding and leading to the Republican Party, right? If it’s “both sides,” it’s got to be all sides, unless you’re just only mad about democrats and trying to make it look like both sides.

    • comrade_twisty@feddit.org
      1315·
      1 day ago

      If you can, please try to find a way to donate without supporting cooperations like paypal who are complicit in creating this mess.

      A regular ACH transfer for example will be much cheaper for everyone involved and paypal won‘t get a cut.

      • callouscomic@lemmy.zip
        2012·
        1 day ago

        Never fucking good enough. There’s always SOMEthing wrong with every charitable anything.

        Fuck everyone.

        • Zulu@lemmy.world
          176·
          1 day ago

          “if you can, dont support the companies that are causing the problem youre trying to support a fix for”

          “nEvEr GoOd EnOuGH!!!”

          Doing more to make a bad situation better SHOULD never be enough until the bad situation is over. Do what you’re capable of, not ‘do the bare minimum because its good enough’.

          Cant donate? Go work to deliver/serve food.

          If the places giving food have all the food, but have a line. They need more people handing it out. That’s “free” to do.

          • comrade_twisty@feddit.org
            62·
            1 day ago

            And if donating via paypal is your only viable option, then do so by all means. I just wanted to point out that it is not the ideal method and it always makes sense to explore alternatives especially when highly questionable cooperations are involved.

          • atzanteol@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            42·
            23 hours ago

            Guess what? You’re going to be buying food from “big agg” and supporting mean ole businesses! If you then can grow your own food and donate everything you don’t need to maintain a minimum existence!

            You don’t need to go all Doug Forcett to do good. Stop purity-shaming people.

    • MNByChoice@midwest.social
      9·
      23 hours ago

      Those that voted for this will never understand the pecking order. They will always think it is enough that they are not on the bottom, even if they are also drowning.

  • Verdant Banana@lemmy.worldEnglish
    43·
    1 day ago

    food pantries are not just inadequate not even food banks just places that hordes old out of date food that no one else wanted or food given for a tax right off and people usually some HOA person that wants to feel good or a person that wants to show how much like jesus they supposedly are do community service at

    did not meet the needs of the citizens before and will not now and were never properly funded and proper food bank infrastructure was never setup

    these are just places handing out some old crap food that will not at the end of the day get anyone by