Hundreds of thousands in Mississippi to lose food assistance due to shutdown

Meanwhile, politicians blame each other for the crisis

As the federal government shutdown enters its fourth week, on track to becoming the second-longest in U.S. history, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has said the state cannot step in to replace federal food assistance for the more than 350,000 residents facing disruption of their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services announced on Oct. 24, 2025, that more than 350,000 Mississippians would not receive their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the month of November as a result of the shutdown.

DHS advised the recipients to continue taking steps to maintain their eligibility and to seek food assistance by contacting regional food banks. As of January 2025, Mississippi’s SNAP recipients included 369,000 individuals—approximately 162,360 children, 51,660 elderly and 51660 non-elderly persons with a disability. Food bank directors say the interruption of benefits will put massive stress on their ability to provide meals across the state.

While DHS notes that the pause in SNAP benefits for November is a “direct result of the federal shutdown” and not the result of any state-level decision, additional details were omitted from the press release. Despite the shutdown, the USDA does have access to a $5-6 billion contingency fund for SNAP, which some Democrats and nearly all Republicans in Congress approved as part of the March 2025 spending bill. The release also does not reference any state options for coming to the aid of needy residents.

Many states, including South Carolina, Virginia, Hawaii, Minnesota, and New York, are providing state funding to support emergency food aid programs. In neighboring Louisiana, lawmakers are taking up bipartisan legislation that would use state health department funds to cover $140 million in SNAP benefits for the month of November. Meanwhile, 25 state attorneys general and governors have sued the USDA, asserting that its halting of SNAP benefits is illegal.

Political blame

In a statement posted on social media, Gov. Reeves said there is “sadly no simple way for state government to just step in and pay the hundreds of millions of dollars in harm that this shutdown by the Washington Democrats is causing.” The governor noted that the ongoing federal shutdown has “very real implications for Mississippi’s poor and needy, our military installations and their personnel, and everyday citizens.”

The governor’s statement disregards the fact that the state has a robust $700 million rainy day fund, which he has taken credit for building.

Data from the Mississippi Department of Human Services show that in January 2025, Mississippi SNAP recipients received a total of more than $67 million in benefits, which represents less than 10 percent of the state’s rainy day fund. If the state were to use the fund to cover poor Mississippians during this time, it could reasonably expect to be reimbursed from the federal government once the shutdown is over—particularly if it filed suit over SNAP benefits as half the states have already done.

Reeves said “Washington Democrats” are more interested in providing free healthcare to “illegals” than in supporting a safety net for needy Mississippians. In fact, Democrats are not pushing to provide healthcare to undocumented immigrants, who are ineligible for such benefits.

Senate Democrats say they are using the only leverage they have—refusing to approve the resolution funding the federal government—to reinstate expiring tax credits for U.S. citizens that make health insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act more affordable. Without congressional action, those subsidies will expire at the end of this year, causing 2026 premiums for many Americans to skyrocket.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi’s only Democrat in Washington, offered a contrasting view to Reeves’s claims, calling the shutdown President Donald Trump’s “latest scheme to starve kids, seniors, and people with disabilities by cutting off SNAP benefits.” Thompson said 139,000 people in Mississippi’s Second Congressional District, which he represents, will not receive their SNAP benefits on November 1.

The stakes for Mississippi

Mississippians who receive food assistance through SNAP represent approximately 13 percent of the state’s population, slightly higher than the 12 percent nationwide who use SNAP to help buy groceries. The vast majority of recipients are families with children or elderly people. As the poorest state in the nation, Mississippi could stand to lose the most from the SNAP disruption.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture warned that it has insufficient funding to pay full November benefits if the shutdown continues, with approximately $8 billion in SNAP benefits at risk nationwide. The SNAP program is completely funded by the federal government; Mississippi does not contribute financially to the program.

Benefits typically arrive on a rolling basis throughout the month, with some recipients receiving payments as early as November 1 and others later in the month. Recipients who have unused benefits from October on their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards will still be able to use those funds. The federal government has encouraged SNAP recipients to prioritize using their benefits to stock up on eligible shelf-stable food items such as canned goods before the end of October.

Nationally, nearly 42 million people—approximately one in eight Americans—received SNAP benefits in May 2025, with households receiving about $350 on average per month. Households with children, an elderly individual or a non-elderly person with a disability received 83 percent of SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2023. The federal government spent $100.3 billion on the program during the 2024 fiscal year, representing less than 2 percent of the federal budget.

If Mississippi stepped up to cover the November shortfall, the state could expect a return on its investment of $1.54 for every $1 it spends on food assistance, according to the USDA. That’s money that would be spent to support more than 3,000 local supermarkets, gas stations, farmers and other food suppliers and distributors throughout the state and support Mississippi’s most vulnerable people through such a difficult time.

Every Mississippi county will miss out on substantial investment into its local economy due to the pause in SNAP benefits. For example, Washington County’s economy received a total of $2,117,817 through its residents’ SNAP benefits in January 2025. In Rankin County, the amount was $1,165,479; in Madison County, $1,490,903; DeSoto County, $2,439,505; Harrison County, $5,943,646; Jackson County, $2,445,220; and Hinds County, $6,815,397.

Burden on food banks and pantries

Mississippi’s charitable food network is bracing for a surge in demand that many fear will exceed capacity. The scale of the challenge is daunting: Nationally, for every one meal that food banks provide, SNAP provides nine. This 9-to-1 ratio underscores why the emergency food system cannot fully replace federal assistance.

Jason Martin, executive director of the Northeast Mississippi Hunger Coalition, a network of 24 food pantries across eight counties, said his organization is receiving emergency calls from people whose SNAP benefits are not coming through. “I just got off the phone a little bit ago with a woman whose SNAP benefits are not coming through and can’t survive and is requesting emergency boxes,” Martin said. “From the pantries’ perspective, we’re expecting to be overwhelmed with the request for services. And our system is already taxed to the max.”

Martin emphasized that nonprofits attempting to pick up the slack is “not sustainable long term,” saying the charitable food network simply lacks the resources to replace hundreds of millions in federal funding.

Cassandra Mobley, interim CEO of the Mississippi Food Network, which serves 430 agencies that distribute food across much of the state, said the organization is preparing for increased demand while also facing the typical holiday season surge in need. “We’re just going to pivot and look at what we’ll need to do to help these families that may or may not get their SNAP benefits next month,” Mobley said. “We don’t know for sure that’s going to happen, but we’re getting ready for it.”

The Mississippi Food Network is appealing for volunteers and financial donations. “We can use a lot of volunteers, so volunteers are always needed. Funds are always needed because there’s certain items we’d really like to be able to provide, that we may not be getting in through donations,” Mobley said.

Adding to the strain, some of the 21,000 federal government workers in Mississippi who are furloughed have already begun seeking assistance from organizations like the Salvation Army for financial help to make ends meet and pay bills. Pastor Arnette Owens, with the Gardner Welcome Table Center, which distributes food every Tuesday and Thursday, expects to see significantly more people who are not receiving their SNAP benefits.

Mississippi’s broader food security challenges

The SNAP suspension comes as Mississippi already faces significant food security challenges. Mississippi is classified as one of the hungriest states in the nation, with one in four children—approximately 159,370—facing hunger, according to Feeding America. The organization estimates it would take more than $380 million to meet the food needs of every hungry person in the state.

Part of the solution is for the state to encourage full participation in SNAP, according to 2022 data from the USDA. If the state were to encourage more Mississippians to apply for SNAP benefits, Mississippi’s economy could be bolstered by an additional approximately $30 million per month in SNAP benefits, helping feed another 180,000 Mississippians who are eligible for SNAP but do not participate in the program.

The SNAP crisis also comes on the heels of Mississippi’s recent decisions to not expand federal assistance programs. Earlier in 2025, Gov. Reeves declined to opt into the federal Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (SUN Bucks) program for the second consecutive year. That program would have provided each eligible child $40 a month in grocery assistance during summer months when school meals are unavailable, bringing an estimated $38 million into the state.

Mississippi has historically declined several federally funded assistance programs, including Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, which could extend healthcare coverage to thousands of low-income residents. Policy experts note that as the poorest state in the nation, Mississippi has historically high poverty rates and fewer revenue sources than wealthier states, making it particularly difficult to absorb the loss of federal assistance.

SNAP is the latest incarnation of the federal food assistance program created in 1964 under President Lyndon Johnson and traces its roots back to the Great Depression, with the first food stamp program starting in 1939, when recipients received orange and blue stamps to purchase food.

Looking ahead

The shutdown began October 1 after Congress failed to pass a federal spending bill, with Democrats demanding that lawmakers address expiring health insurance subsidies and Republicans refusing to negotiate until the government reopens. The Senate has failed 13 times to advance a GOP funding bill that would end the shutdown.

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history, which lasted 35 days, from late 2018 into early 2019, was triggered by a border wall funding dispute. During that shutdown, SNAP payments were threatened but never frozen. The U.S. Department of Agriculture used a contingency fund to disperse benefits early, issuing February 2019 benefits that January. This caused a long gap in payments for some recipients but avoided a complete halt. The department had enough reserve funds to keep SNAP afloat through the end of February 2019. That shutdown ended on Jan. 25, 2019.

The current shutdown, at 29 days as of Oct. 30, 2025, is already the second-longest in U.S. history, with no clear end in sight. When it ultimately ends, experts believe November’s benefits will be issued retroactively, though the timing remains uncertain, and the delay itself could force families to make difficult choices between buying groceries, paying rent, filling prescriptions or turning on the heat during the winter months.

For Mississippians needing food assistance during the shutdown, the state has recommended contacting the following food banks:

• North Mississippi: Mid-South Food Bank

• Central Mississippi: Mississippi Food Network

• South Mississippi: Catholic Charities of South Mississippi

A comprehensive list of local food resources organized by county is also available through the Delta Health Alliance website.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services is providing SNAP updates on its website.

Meanwhile, as Thanksgiving approaches, pressure is mounting on lawmakers and emergency food providers—and on families who face potentially empty cupboards during what is meant to be a celebration of America’s abundance.

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Image: A mother and her children shop for canned goods at the Stewpot Pantry in Jackson, Mississippi (credit Jill Buckley, Stewpot Community Services)