Media Coverage

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children is facing a funding shortfall in Ohio and nationwide, even without the threat of a government shutdown.
Advocates said nationally, increased participation in WIC along with food price inflation have eaten away at the allotted budget. U.S. Department of Agriculture data from August show WIC enrollments in Ohio were up 12% over last year. While inflation has slowed, food prices are still up nearly 4% over 2022.
Joree Novotny, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said simply continuing to fund the program at current levels is inadequate.

The still-looming threat of a federal government shutdown and chaos in Congress have pushed Farm Bill negotiations to the side. Ohio food banks said the uncertainty around federal funding for food banks and nutrition programs is compounding the struggles to meet demand. The deadline to reauthorize the nation's largest food and agriculture legislative package was last month.

Local food banks and pantries have been fighting tooth and nail to keep up with the significant increase in people needing food since emergency funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ended in March.

Throughout the pandemic, people enrolled in SNAP received an average of $90 more per month. Those temporary benefits ended in February 2023. Mike Stanley, who lives in Northeast Ohio, is one of 1.5 million Ohioans who lost those extra SNAP benefits. The loss removed about $126 million worth of SNAP dollars that were available to Ohioans, according to the association.

Stanley, who uses a wheelchair and can’t easily work, used to get $200 a month. Now, he’s back to receiving $35 a month. He said he could stretch that out before, but high prices make it nearly impossible now.

"We've been calling for $50 million per year in the state budget to help us try to fill some of that gap for food insecure Ohioans," Novotny said. "We received $15 million in additional funding for a total of just shy of $40 million per year in funding in the Ohio house budget. However, the Senate stripped that additional funding out."

Protesters gather at the Ohio Statehouse; demonstrate against state budget cuts to childcare, food banks, education, and healthcare.