Updated: 5:58 PM EDT Jul 2, 2025
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 41 million people, including families, children, seniors, and veterans, use SNAP benefits.
Hunger Free Vermont says that over 65,000 Vermonters are a part of the program — 17,000 are children and 19,000 are seniors. Executive director Anore Horton explained that the proposed cuts could mean 13,000 people lose their SNAP access — including children.
“Because if some of those people are parents of children, it would also likely cause additional children, in particular, and other members of older households to lose their benefits as well,” she explained.
Feeding Champlain Valley Associate Director, Ana McMahon says they have been preparing for funding cuts for a while, and are expecting more people to use their services. She says right now they are focusing on increasing outreach, so people know their options.
“We want to increase food access, and not just in Chittenden County, but the Champlain Valley region through a variety of programs and services. So, I think that really is the biggest thing — letting people know what we do, what we offer, our hours of operations, and that they are welcome,” she said.
Vermont Food Bank and Hunger Free Vermont both said they believe the spending cuts would mean the state and local organizations will have to fund food assistance programs — and that they cannot make up the multi-million-dollar gap on their own.
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