Protecting the future of SNAP in North Carolina starts with telling a better story

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If you ask us to tell you a story about the power of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, we could talk all day.

SNAP puts food on the table for families across America. SNAP is one of the most successful public health investments in our nation’s history. SNAP is a powerhouse at work in every state and in every community. Close to 1.3 million people across North Carolina rely on monthly SNAP food benefits—almost half of those are kids under 17. SNAP is a critical nutrition program that supports our families, our neighbors, and our communities- including kids, older adults, people with disabilities, veterans, essential workers, teachers, and childcare providers.

SNAP supports our entire communities, not just the people who receive monthly food benefits. SNAP brings close to $3 billion of food purchasing power to North Carolina each year, driving local sales at grocery stores, community food stores, and farmers markets, keeping our rural grocery stores open so that everyone in the community has access to food. SNAP is there for all of us through life’s uncertainties. SNAP is there for you when life gets hard: when you have a health crisis and are unable to work; when you have to lose work to care for a loved one; when you are a college student working hard for a better future and the part-time job still leaves you with an empty fridge at the end of the month; when you are an essential worker, teacher, or child care provider and the hours and wages don’t match the rising cost of raising a family or the value that you bring to your community; when you are a veteran or active duty military family and the job that should pay enough just doesn’t.

Here in North Carolina, through many hurricane seasons, we have also seen firsthand how SNAP is a critical resource when disaster strikes or when the economy stumbles and suddenly the jobs in your community are no longer there. As Western North Carolina continues to recover from Hurricane Helene, we witness how SNAP and Disaster SNAP have provided essential financial support to our families, our communities, and our farmers in the wake of disaster.

I had to spend time with my fragile newborn in the NICU, but I didn't have paid leave from my job, so I suddenly lost my paycheck when she was born. SNAP provides us with healthy foods like bread, eggs and cheese. If SNAP benefits are cut, I don’t know what we’d do.

Kayla, Reidsville, NC

I am raising 4 grandkids and have been for over 10 years now. Even receiving SNAP we still are struggling to have enough food on the table every night. We are hitting food distribution sites and church food pantries just to survive.

Mary Beth, Clyde, NC

I am a North Carolina Public School teacher, wife and mom of 3. Despite the many hats I wear to support my community, I rely on SNAP benefits to provide for my family.

Salina, Goldboro, NC

Federal budget cuts threaten the future of SNAP

Last year, Congress made huge changes to the SNAP program. With HR 1, or the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Congress cut $187 billion in funding from the SNAP program as part of a sweeping package of changes designed to pay for continued tax cuts, including tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations. Those changes are threatening the future of SNAP in North Carolina and many other states.

For decades, the SNAP program has been the cornerstone of our national commitment to make sure that children and families of all ages have food on the table and the nutrition support they need to grow, learn, work, and thrive. SNAP is the largest child nutrition program in the US and lifts more children out of poverty than any other federal program. It is time for us to renew our commitment to SNAP and to ending child hunger in America. It is time for us to tell the true story of the power of SNAP.

With support from CSPI, Meals4Families is joining partners across North Carolina to tell our state’s story:

North Carolina is Stronger with SNAP

Food insecurity exists in every county, every community, and every school district across North Carolina and across the country. Those patterns tell us that child hunger in our state, and in our nation, is the result of policy choices, not personal choices.

Meals4Families works to end child hunger in North Carolina. We work to create a stronger North Carolina where more families can meet their basic needs, grow savings, and secure a healthy future. To get there, we need to make it easier for families to get enrolled and stay enrolled in all of the health and nutrition programs that they are eligible for, including SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, SUN Bucks, school meals, and summer meals.

We also need to connect more families with free tax filing support to access the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. Meals4Families works to expand access to this suite of basic needs and economic support programs by driving progress in three focal areas:

Policy
Partnerships
Technology

Policy: Our campaign to protect SNAP in North Carolina

With HR1, or the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Congress made huge funding cuts to the SNAP program by pushing more of the cost of SNAP onto states and state budgets. For North Carolina, these changes and increased costs threaten the future of SNAP in our state.

Following HR 1, for the first time ever, North Carolina is faced with funding a portion of SNAP monthly benefits. Our state and county budgets are now expected to cover hundreds of millions of dollars in SNAP costs that have always been funded by the federal government.

Right now, leaders across our 100 North Carolina counties are waiting to hear from our elected state leaders how North Carolina will cover the increased SNAP administration costs that begin in October 2026. The new SNAP benefit cost share will come into effect in October 2027 and is expected to cost our state hundreds of millions of dollars in the first year of implementation alone. North Carolina will be forced to pay these new costs from our state budget or exit the SNAP program entirely.

The Stronger with SNAP campaign grew out of rapid-response collaboration among a broad network of North Carolina advocacy partners in the lead up to and wake of HR 1. Led by founding partner organizations Meals4Families, North Carolina Alliance for Health, NC Budget & Tax Center, MomsRising NC, and our campaign grassroots team, we are building the Stronger with SNAP campaign to protect the future of SNAP in North Carolina.

Together, we’re building the framework and the engine of long-term, coordinated, statewide SNAP advocacy powered by community voices, evidence of SNAP’s importance for schools, child welfare, health, and our essential workforce, powerful messaging, and a growing legislative knowledgebase.

Partnerships: Connecting families to SNAP at school and at the pediatrician

While we fight for the future of SNAP, it is equally important that we reassure families that SNAP is still here, supporting more than a million people across our state. Families can and should continue to apply for and re-enroll in the food benefits they are eligible for.

Even before the recent changes to SNAP funding and policy, too many families missed out on SNAP benefits that they were likely eligible for. Collectively, these enrollment gaps mean that we’re missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars each year that could be putting food on the table for families across North Carolina.

Meals4Families builds and supports strategic partnerships that bring together school partners, health partners, and SNAP enrollment support partners to connect more eligible families with SNAP.

For families with kids, SNAP is super-powered. When you’re a kid on SNAP, your family gets:

more money each month for groceries,
extra grocery money over the summer through SUN Bucks,
extra money to buy fresh, local food at farmers markets through programs like Double Up NC (DUNC),
free meals at school with no additional application needed,
discounts on store memberships, which can also mean free or discounted grocery delivery,
discounts to museums and summer camps,
discounts on internet or phone service at home, and even
reduced fees or no fees for college admission tests and applications.

SNAP is far too valuable to miss out on!

Technology: Helping people navigate expanded SNAP work rules

With HR 1, Congress backed away from a longstanding commitment to how the SNAP program is funded, suddenly requiring states to pay more SNAP costs. HR 1 also changed the rules about who needs to work to qualify for SNAP benefits. After HR 1, more people have to meet SNAP work requirements, including some people who were previously exempt such as people experiencing homelessness, veterans, and young adults aging out of foster care.

While Congress made these changes to SNAP work rules at the federal level, the details of how the expanded work requirements play out can be slightly different from state to state, making it difficult for community partners and SNAP members to follow these policy changes.

To help communities navigate these changes, Meals4Families is working with local partner organization Code the Dream and national partner Code for America to bring a new SNAP work rules screening tool to North Carolina. The screener tool, GetBenefitsHelp.org, is developed by Code for America and is now available in all 100 counties across North Carolina.

We’re working with community partners, SNAP recipients, and county SNAP agencies to test, continue improving, and expand the use of this resource in communities across North Carolina.

Be part of the story: Keep North Carolina stronger with SNAP

We invite you to join us in protecting this vital program that makes North Carolina stronger by visiting the Stronger with SNAP Campaign page.

By joining the Stronger with SNAP campaign, you can help ensure that all of our neighbors have access to the food they need. Sign up today to:

Stay informed: Learn more about SNAP and how this vital program supports communities across North Carolina.

Take action: Learn about simple ways you can get involved and help protect SNAP in North Carolina.

Share your story: Help us show our leaders how North Carolina is truly stronger with SNAP

To learn more about Meals4Families and our work or connect with us on LinkedIn! Subscribe to receive updates or get involved in our work.

Together, we can make sure the story is heard: SNAP makes North Carolina communities stronger, healthier, and more resilient during economic change.

North Carolina is Stronger with SNAP.

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