COVID-19 SNAP benefit expiration hits city

By Julia Kahen senior staff writer

In March, American households in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will begin losing a collective total of $3 billion in SNAP benefits per month.

After three years, the Emergency Allotment of SNAP benefits — part of a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for people with low incomes — that was instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic ended on March 1.

The Emergency Allotment temporarily increased each household’s benefits by an average of $90 per month, beginning in March 2020.

In February, Gov. Kathy Hochul extended the food assistance through the end of the month, adding a total of $234 million in SNAP funds.

Amid a year of increasing food prices across the nation, the end to this boost in benefits will negatively impact many households, especially affecting metropolitan areas with high percentages of people living below the poverty line.

In January 2023, the average cost of food items increased by 10.1% in the U.S. compared to January 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rise in the cost of food at home, or food that SNAP benefits can buy, was even higher at 11.3%.

Food is just one of the many commodities that has risen in cost over the past year. Lowincome households who benefit from SNAP are also facing cost increases in gasoline, electricity, medical care and rent.

But food is often the only thing that households are able to reduce in order to make ends meet, said Becky Lare, the director of government relations at the Food Bank of Central New York.

“Typically, the food budget is the first place that people look to to cut. It’s one of the easier places for them to turn to,” Lare said. “Emergency Allotments made a tremendous impact for many households throughout Central and Northern New York and across the country. By not having those dollars, it’s going to result in an increased demand on our network of food pantries and soup kitchens.” see snap page 4

The Food Bank of Central New York is the major food distribution hub for central and northern New York. In response to the end of Emergency Allotment funds, the food bank is proactively working to educate community members on how to maximize their SNAP benefits and manage their deductions, such as health care and childcare costs.

The agenda is all about leaving no one behind.

After her time at SU, Botswana’s president appointed Somolekae as the country’s first woman deputy minister of finance and economic development, and later co-founded and directed the Democracy Project in Botswana to promote public education on democracy and monitor elections. Somolekae also delivered a report on Botswana’s rural development, which led to policy overhaul in its development programs.

In her focus on technology access and development for women, Somolekae pointed to a United Nations report released in December – the same month the theme for SU’s event was announced – which established that bringing isolated women into technological fields resulted in greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality. She pointed to the U.N.’s listed 2015 Sustainable Development Goal to achieve gender equality and empower all women.

“The agenda is all about leaving no one behind,” Somolekae said.

In 2018, the U.N. reviewed its development goals and identified forms of gender discrimination which continue across the globe. One example is women’s responsibility to collect water in rural regions of South Asia and subSaharan Africa, which leaves them with less time to engage with other activities.

Somolekae said that gender discrimination is still an issue that primarily needs to be handled in African countries. A 2020 study from the Brookings Institute revealed that most women in African countries working in agriculture are often unpaid and overworked compared to their male counterparts.

If women are left behind in pay, Somolekae said they’ll always be behind. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated that reality, she said, explaining that women had to stop farming to comply with social distancing protocols and assumed responsibility to help their children adapt to online learning.

Somolekae emphasized the range of ways in which women end up taking on burdens and fulfilling roles that function as effective discrimination.

“Some people think that where the law says we are equal, we have all rights, but they see women’s day page 4