Why Cuts to SNAP Put Families at Risk

When Janin Otero, a Project Bread Council of Experts member, thinks about the cuts to SNAP (formerly known as food stamps), she has just two words: “Total devastation.”

“I know of too many people who depend on it,” Otero added. For families like Otero’s — and millions across Massachusetts and the country — SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) has been a lifeline. It helps working parents, elders, people with disabilities, those facing sudden hardships, and food-insecure individuals put food on the table. Yet this vital safety net is now weakened: Congress recently passed deep federal cuts to SNAP that reduce benefits for more than 42 million Americans.

“I really feel like as a whole, it’s just gonna be really bad, and that’s really...depressing," Otero said.

At Project Bread, we believe no one should have to choose between paying rent and buying groceries — but that is precisely the harsh reality that families like Otero’s face every day.
 

Otero was born and raised in Boston. She is a professional cook, a mother of three, and a member of Project Bread’s Council of Experts with Lived Experience of Food Insecurity, a group of individuals with lived experiences who step into leadership roles to collaborate, advocate, and inform real-world solutions to food insecurity.

“Food insecurity for me leads to depressive moments for myself. I will not eat if I don’t have enough for my kids,” Otero said. “The shame becomes super hardcore for me.”

We hear similar sentiments from parents time and time again, skipping meals so their kids have enough to eat. Her story is a reminder that food insecurity can affect anyone, regardless of how hard they work or plan.

“A lot of the food insecurity affects me more, and I think that’s just more of a motherhood, maternal caregiver thing. I will take the least amount to make sure that they’re fed.”

She described how quickly the cost of groceries can become overwhelming. "Food stamps [SNAP benefits] go in two weeks nowadays, regardless of how much you have, you can be the most budget-friendly person, and overnight, things are just ridiculously expensive."

The strain of rising prices on budgets isn’t unique to Otero’s household. Nationally, grocery prices increased by 23.6 percent from 2020 to 2024. Families who rely on SNAP benefits have already lost an average of $90 per month in emergency allotments that expired in 2023, and the new cuts slash them even further, reducing household budgets at a time when food pantries report record demand.

Project Bread has long been a fierce advocate for strengthening and protecting SNAP benefits at the state and federal levels.

"There was about three months where I couldn't pay rent, I couldn't pay for anything, and the moment I went on my medical leave, I signed up for SNAP. And if that had not happened, I don't know what we would have done," said Otero.

For Otero and her family, SNAP kept them fed when everything else fell apart. "SNAP was just clutch.”

Kelly Russell, a fellow Boston mother and Project Bread Ambassador, has experienced this firsthand, too. “I’ve been on SNAP for a really long time. I honestly feel like it’s the majority of my adult life… overall, I’m grateful for its existence.”

At Project Bread, we hear stories of how SNAP has kept families afloat. “I remember a call from a mom whose husband was deported and cried when he found out that his children would not go hungry thanks to SNAP and our supportive team,” shared Marirosa Lopez, Project Bread FoodSource Hotline Counselor.

Otero’s mother, who is retired and on Medicare, depends on SNAP as well. “My mother, who’s on Medicaid, like Medicare, she’s retired now, she has only $95 a month,” Otero explained. “But that $95 for an elderly person who eats the same thing every week...it’s enough to keep her afloat when she does run out of stuff.”

Nationwide, more than 8.7 million older Americans rely on SNAP. These new cuts will hit them hardest, often leaving elders and caregivers to skip meals or settle for less healthy options.

With the passage of the bill, fewer immigrants will be eligible for SNAP, including refugees and asylees. 20,000-25,000 legally present immigrants in Massachusetts could lose their benefits.

Without SNAP, families like Otero’s will be forced into extremely difficult choices when they are already having budgeting challenges with SNAP.

“The other day, I had to choose between either getting car insurance on my car again, which had just expired, or saving that money and using it for food over the next two weeks,” Otero said.

These impossible trade-offs are becoming the norm for the Americans who depend on SNAP.

Russell echoed the urgent need to fix the system, not gut it. “There needs to be, like, a massive overhaul in not only what they provide financially… but also the criteria, the very concrete cut-off lines and the things that they take into consideration as far as real-life expenses that people need in order to be able to survive.”

“When people are hungry and desperate, bad things happen,” Otero warned.
 

Food insecurity is often misunderstood, and stigma keeps too many from seeking help.

“The shame keeps people from asking for help. But the Council reminds us we’re not alone,” Otero said. “Accessibility is so big…People speak so many different languages. Nobody wants to make that phone call...but seeing people like [Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline]...will just take the time to help you enroll for those things [SNAP].”

Our FoodSource Hotline is 100% free and confidential and supports 180 languages. We assisted 22,400 callers in 2024. The same year, 7,740 learned about their SNAP eligibility. 

Raising awareness about the realities of food insecurity and encouraging open conversations is more crucial than ever, especially in light of recent cuts to SNAP. As families face dwindling resources, combating stigma can encourage those in need to seek help rather than suffer in silence. 

Russell agreed that education changes lives. “Being able to share Project Bread knowledge and information, share programming, and share resources, it's allowed me to have different conversations with people. It's allowed me to engage with friends,” she said. “It allows me to engage with social media differently. It put me in different spaces to have conversations with people who might not otherwise have ever thought of even those two words in conjunction with each other, food insecurity.”
 

These stories aren’t unique. The food security of 42 million Americans depends on SNAP, and now, they must stretch even fewer dollars even further.

As prices continue to climb and food pantries struggle to meet demand, we know SNAP works. It must be strengthened, not stripped away. We must fight for a food-secure future.

Project Bread is at the forefront of this fight, engaging in critical policy work to advocate for sustainable solutions to hunger. Together, we can work towards a future where no family has to make the heartbreaking choice between paying for rent or putting food on the table.