Washington's food banks are on the brink

Washington’s already-squeezed food bank system expects further pressure as an estimated 170,000 residents stand to lose food stamp benefits under the president’s tax cut law.

Food banks already face high demand and difficult choices about how much they can stay open and what food they can hand out. Many are also burning through reserves they built up during the COVID era, when more donations were rolling in to help people struggling to buy food. This comes as inflation and other factors have kept grocery prices high, worsening food insecurity.

Temporary boosts to payments under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, that began during the pandemic ended in 2023.

And since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, his administration has cut hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of shipments to food banks and funding for them to buy produce, meat, dairy and other food products from local farmers.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/07/31/washingtons-food-banks-are-on-the-brink/