President Trump signed HR1 (commonly known as the “Big Beautiful Bill”) into law July 4, 2025. HR1 includes, among many other things, $186 billion worth of cuts towards the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a national food assistance program for families facing food insecurity known here in North Carolina as Food and Nutrition Services, or simply food stamps. Over 1.6 million people in North Carolina alone, around a seventh of the state’s population, are facing food insecurity.
“SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; it provides monthly benefits to help families purchase groceries,” said Kimberly Burrows, Chief Development Officer at the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.
According to the NC Department of Health and Human Services, every one in six minors in North Carolina is food insecure, meaning they are unable to obtain enough food to eat consistently, and may not know when their next meal will be. All humans need food to survive, and not having consistent access to food can lead to harmful effects, both educationally and health-wise.
“We want healthy food to be the first option, because the people who don’t have access to persistent healthy food, they tend to have poorer health outcomes,” said Burrows.
Students who lack access to food often struggle with schoolwork due to a combination of increased stress and anxiety over food, increased trouble with processing and storing information and increased trouble focusing. Prolonged hunger can also increase one’s risk for conditions like anemia, type 2 diabetes, cancer, strokes and many more.
“Regular, balanced meals fuel a child’s development,” said Burrows. “Research shows that children need nutritious food consistently to perform better in school, they have stronger immune systems, and they have fewer behavioral and attendance challenges.”
SNAP provides families with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, which is similar to a debit card. The EBT card is then given a set amount of money every month, depending on the needs and size of the family, which can be used to purchase food at most grocery stores. Students whose families receive SNAP benefits are usually automatically enrolled in free school meals.
“This support helps ensure students have access to consistent meals at home, & it directly contributes to better health & learning outcomes,” said Burrows. “Parents are having to make the decision of ‘do I buy food, or do I pay the light bill?’ Seniors have to decide, ‘do I buy food, or do I pay for my prescription medication?’ And so SNAP benefits help come in and fill that gap.”
HR1 cuts $186B from SNAP through 2034 and increases work requirements, with North Carolina set to need to spend an additional $420,000,000 a year on SNAP to fill the gap left by federal cuts, according to estimates from the governor’s office. Increased work requirements are projected to lead to many families losing access to SNAP, partially due to people no longer meeting the requirements, but also due to many who do meet the requirements but are unable to navigate through the newly created paperwork. Supporters of the changes say they will lead to increased job participation, although studies on work requirements have not shown them to be connected with any such benefits.
“There’s a misconception out there that people who need to use a food bank or who utilize SNAP benefits, they don’t work, they don’t have a job. That’s actually a misconception,” said Burrows. “70% of the people that we serve, they are employed full-time. It’s just, unfortunately, costs are rising, not only food costs, but housing costs, & wages aren’t keeping up with that.”
SNAP is not the only way for families who are facing food insecurity and/or poverty to receive consistent amounts of regular food. Food assistance organizations, such as the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, provide free meals to low-income families, and provide programs to assist in growing food, purchasing healthy food cheaply and cooking healthy meals on a budget.
“With the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, our mission is that we feed our neighbours, we teach self-sufficiency, & we grow healthy foods by cultivating innovative approaches to end hunger,” said Burrows. “We’re doing a little bit of everything, our CEO likes to say, ‘community helping community.’ We’re not just trying to meet the line, we’re trying to shorten it.”
In collaboration with food assistance organizations, Athens Drive has two separate programs, in addition to free or reduced meals, designed to help support students and families. BackPack Buddies is a program which allows students to pick up a backpack of nutritious food for the weekend every Friday, and the ADMHS Food Pantry, which allows families to place free orders two times a month for sets of nutritious meals and food items.
“One of the things we learned is that the odds are if a child is hungry, so is the rest of the family,” said Burrows. “So, in many of our schools, we have school choice pantries, where a family member can come in & shop for the rest of the family.”
Students at Athens have several ways they can help those hurt by SNAP cuts, or who are otherwise facing food insecurity. Students can donate meals and volunteer at organizations like the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, where they can help with growing and distributing food, and can reach out to policy makers who decide legislation on funding for SNAP and food security.
“Reaching out to our policy makers and encouraging them to protect SNAP benefits and to double investments is really important,” said Burrows. “Food banks alone cannot solve this problem; we have to have public policy that reduces the root causes of food insecurity.”
