Virginia SNAP benefits increase extended through October

Hollyann Purvis, Copy Editor

The federal government approved another round of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program COVID-19 emergency allotments for Virginia to help combat food insecurity brought on by the pandemic.

SNAP is a federal nutrition assistance program that provides benefits to qualifying low-income individuals and families, according to the government benefits website.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture grants waivers that allow states to issue emergency allotments of benefits, according to the agency. These waivers are based on a public health emergency declaration by the Department of Health and Human Services, and are applicable when a state declares an emergency or disaster.

The emergency allotments were initially increased to the maximum allotment for households that did not already receive full benefits, according to the initial approval for the SNAP increase. 

The Neighborhood Resource Center of Greater Fulton is a nonprofit organization that provides nutritional, financial and educational support to low-income individuals across Richmond, according to its website. 

Breanne Armbrust, executive director of the center, said she has seen firsthand how increased SNAP benefits impact the community. When benefits increase, there are less people who need food pantry bags. 

“It allows them to have some flexibility with their funds to be able to do other things that are just as essential as eating,” Armbrust said.

The number of food pantry participants have still increased recently due to inflation in spite of a decrease at the onset of increased SNAP benefits, according to Armbrust. 

“We can always tell when there’s been a change, either in increased SNAP benefits or something else that has been provided as additional assistance, based on the number of people that are enrolled in our food program,” Armrbrust said. 

The estimated number of people receiving SNAP benefits was approximately 330,000 in March 2020, according to the USDA. This number increased to 445,000 in September 2022.

Virginia’s initial request to provide emergency supplements to households receiving SNAP benefits was initially approved on March 24, 2020, according to the USDA. The benefits have been extended 33 times since the initial two-month request. Most recently, the commonwealth was approved to reissue emergency benefits for October on Sunday, Oct. 16. 

John Jones, food insecurity researcher and assistant professor in VCU’s Center for Environmental Studies, advocated for the expansion of SNAP benefits in Virginia. Increased benefits are a “wonderful” way to mitigate the worst effects of poverty, Jones said.  

“When you’re expanding the amount of money that people are receiving or expanding the number of people that can receive this, that’s going to positively impact food security and negatively impact food insecurity,” Jones said. 

Virginia residents have experienced much lower food insecurity over the course of the pandemic because of increased SNAP benefits, according to Eddie Oliver, the executive director of the Federation of Virginia Food Banks —  a nonprofit state association that works with the seven regional food banks in Virginia to improve nutrition security.

“We know the second they end and they go back to their previous levels, then we know we’re going to see that in our pantry lines that we’re going to be affected for sure,” Oliver said. 

Oliver said that while food insecurity is not a new problem, the pandemic has put the issue in the spotlight. The “stronger safety net” for food insecurity present during the pandemic has worked well, according to Oliver. 

“Higher SNAP benefits have done an amazing service of keeping families well fed, of ensuring children have enough to eat to grow strong and to be well educated,” Oliver said. “So we’re going to continue to advocate for those things moving forward.”