By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
Starting tomorrow, Nov. 1, thousands of Montanans are scheduled to lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Due to the federal government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Services ordered states to stop issuing SNAP benefits for the month of November.
By the afternoon of Oct. 31, U.S. District Court Judge Jack McConnell of Rhode Island blocked the Trump administration from holding back SNAP funding. As of press time, it remains unclear if the administration will appeal, or when SNAP funds will be distributed to the 42 million Americans who rely on them.
In response to this uncertainty, food banks across Montana are preparing by purchasing additional food upfront and organizing with distributors and partners.
Montana Food Bank Network, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Missoula, is the main distributor for Human Resource Development Council’s local food banks in the Gallatin Valley and Big Sky area. Since last Friday, MFBN has created a proactive strategy to prepare for an expected increase in need if SNAP ends in November.
“We’ve increased our buying considerably and the good news is we just moved into our new facility in September, which makes our capacity able to handle that,” Gayle Carlson, CEO of MFBN, told EBS. This week, MFBN got approval from its board to spend $185,000 on top of its normal budget to purchase pre-packed food boxes, a resource that is easier to distribute for food banks.
MFBN staff are allocating inventory to agencies based on needs reports submitted this week from agencies like the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. The first major shipments from MFBN to partners across the state are expected to arrive next week.
Carlson said that larger agencies like ones in Bozeman and Kalispell will also act as a hub to service smaller food banks like the Big Sky Community Food Bank and the Bounty of the Bridgers Campus Food Bank at Montana State University.
Federal government shutdowns, like the one in 2019, have caused higher need for food bank services before, but for Carlson this is different.
“I just don’t know how to stress the critical nature of this and the expectation that our government has, that a nonprofit is gonna be able to step up and fulfill that kind of a gap is a little intimidating for us and we’re gonna do our level best to make sure everybody has what they need,” Carlson said.
Around 50 agencies, including HRDC, signed a letter that MFBN sent to Gov. Greg Gianforte, urging the state to support the SNAP program, which more than 77,000 Montanans used in 2024. The Daily Montanan reported that Gianforte said the state cannot fund the program without an expected federal reimbursement.
In a federal funding updates document on HRDC’s website, the nonprofit noted that Gallatin Valley is already seeing increased need.
“We are already seeing a rise in visits to food banks and Fork & Spoon as households face uncertainty,” the update states, referring to the HRDC-funded pay-what-you-can restaurant in Bozeman.
Carlson encouraged people to step up at the local level to support food accessibility efforts, like food banks and drives. Monetary donations also go a long way, she noted, as food banks can use their buying power to maximize a five or $10 contribution.
She maintained that at its capacity right now, MFBN can’t fill in 100% of the need that may come up and she’s concerned about what it will look like when food banks across the state open on Monday morning.
“When you’re in this business, the worst feeling that you could possibly have is sending someone away without food or without adequate food … that’s our worst nightmare,” Carlson said.
