Texans, Food Banks Struggle With SNAP Cuts

The day before Tina’s husband suffered a brain injury that left him permanently disabled was the last day either of them ever worked. That was three years ago. Her husband, Neil, was left bedridden and nonverbal, and now requires round-the-clock care. Tina, who asked that their last name be omitted out of concern for their privacy, left her job to be his full-time caretaker ever since.

After three years of being denied Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, Tina and Neil, both 56, had to drain their savings and sell their home just to feed themselves. While Neil takes liquid food through a tube, Tina often survives on just two cups of yogurt a day and, occasionally, eggs from their neighbor’s chickens. She sighed in relief when they were finally approved for SNAP last fall, but due to the program’s new work requirements, Tina soon found out they risked losing their benefits if she didn’t return to the workforce.

“I saw that on the news and just had that sinking feeling of ‘Great, so much for that,’” Tina said.

The $187 billion cut to SNAP, signed into law last summer as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill, shifts part of the cost onto states and introduces stricter work requirements while raising the minimum age of exemption from 55 to 64. State lawmakers signed a bill last June that went into effect on April 1 and restricts Texans from using SNAP for candy and sweetened drinks. 

Tina said the cost of a full-time caretaker would far exceed what she would earn if she returned to her previous role as a medical receptionist, and she has been unable to find a work-from-home role that would allow her to continue caring for Neil. Putting her husband in an assisted living home isn’t an option, either, even if they could afford it, she added.

“We’ve made promises to each other,” Tina said. “I’m not going to stick him someplace because I know it would kill him. [That is] just not going to happen.”  

Before she met Neil, Tina said she thought she would never be in a relationship again. The couple met while hiking and quickly fell in love. According to Tina, he helped her heal from her own trauma, and now she feels it’s her turn to help him heal. Even on days that feel impossible, she finds a reason to keep going.

“This is probably gonna sound corny, but love,” Tina said. “He’s the husband most women dream of having: somebody who cares, who’s protective, who listens – the overall package.”

According to Feeding Texas CEO Celia Cole, SNAP participation has fallen by about 9% nationwide since HR 1 was signed. Older adults and families with children appear to be losing benefits at higher rates than others, according to Cole. A Center on Budget and Policy Priorities study found 700,000 fewer children were on SNAP since HR 1 was signed.

“We are concerned that people aren’t losing benefits because they’re finding work – they’re losing benefits because it’s becoming harder to access SNAP due to those requirements,” Cole said. 

Cole doesn’t think purchase restrictions will lead to healthier choices, either. Instead, she said that incorporating nutrition into Medicaid while investing in evidence-based educational programs would lead to the desired outcomes. “For every one meal that food banks put on the table, SNAP puts nine,” Cole said. 

Feeding Texas is partnered with roughly 4,000 food banks statewide, with countless other independent food banks across the state. Despite this, charities and nonprofits lack the capacity to fill the gap created by cutting SNAP, according to Cole. 

According to Stacey Fletcher, founder of Pflugerville food pantry Food for All Project, every free food site in Pflugerville runs out “every single day.” 

“We used to be at a point when we could give out banana boxes full of food every day,” Fletcher said. “But because the quantities have gone down and down and down, we’ve gone down to one bag of food.”

Many volunteers rely on FFAP themselves, like Diana Linares, a single mother enrolled in Austin Community College’s social work program. Linares said her own mother relied on food stamps (now SNAP) growing up.

“I want to give my son the life I didn’t have,” Linares said. Despite the fact that her class and volunteer hours combine to meet the new work requirements, she still lost her SNAP benefits in February.

Dr. Alexis Racelis, director of UT-Rio Grande Valley’s Agroecology and Resilient Food Systems program, didn’t share an opinion on the SNAP cuts, but said that policies that increase access to healthier options alongside the restrictions would be effective. “Unfortunately, unless you do both, I don’t think it’s necessarily gonna have the impact that we all want, which is a healthier public,” Dr. Racelis said.

In the meantime, people like Tina and Neil have to make do. “We have worked our entire lives, been faithful, done the stuff we’re supposed to do,” Tina explained. “Now everything’s gone, and this can happen to anybody.”

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