Belts of rural counties in the south and northeast will see anywhere from a quarter to a third of their residents without food assistance. (Graphic: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
The SNAP federal food assistance program helps feed a total of 1.4 million North Carolinians. They will all stop receiving benefits this week, when the federal government halts payment amid a continuing shutdown in Washington.
Every county in North Carolina will feel the effects, but counties with the most enrollees may not experience the largest impact.
When benefits are suspended Friday, more than 132,000 North Carolinians in the populous Mecklenburg County will be left without food assistance. It’s the county with the highest number of people receiving the aid, but that’s just 11% of its population.
It’s southern Robeson County, whose total population is around 116,000, that will see the largest percentage of its residents without aid. Roughly one in three Robeson residents participate in SNAP, according to state data.
Belts of rural counties in the south and northeast will see anywhere from a quarter to a third of their residents without food assistance. Ten of the state’s 99 counties, almost all majority rural, have 25% or more of its residents enrolled in SNAP.
In a news conference Tuesday, a top state health official said the pause in SNAP would “hit our small towns and rural communities especially hard.”
“One in six rural North Carolinians depend on SNAP,” said Jonathan Kappler, deputy secretary for the NC Department of Health & Human Services. “And when funding gets delayed, local grocery stores, farmers and small businesses all feel it.”
SNAP provides nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in benefits every month to North Carolinians. That’s money that flows immediately into local economies. Andy Ellen, president of the N.C. Retail Merchants Association, says it plays a critical role in sustaining local markets and food retailers.
“SNAP benefits help ensure customers can afford nutritious food, which keeps shelves stocked and businesses thriving,” Ellen told NC Newsline. ”[T]he suspension of $230 million in SNAP benefits on November 1 will have a ripple effect on jobs and the broader economy.”
Demand for the benefits is fairly steady: the state receives around 60,000 applications for SNAP every month. That number occasionally spikes due to households recertifying with the program, as well as applications filed after natural disasters. In September, the state received just over 65,000 applications.
In total, about 12.5% of North Carolinians participate in SNAP. That’s a higher rate than any of its three directly neighboring states. In South Carolina, roughly 10.4% are enrolled in the program; in Virginia, 9.36%.
The vast majority of those receiving benefits (80%) are employed. And more than 580,000 children and 40,000 babies in the state are fed by the program.
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