An average of 41.7 million people, or 12.3 % of the U.S. population, received SNAP benefits each month in Fiscal Year 2024, according to the USDA. October 2025 reports indicate that about 42 million Americans participate in SNAP monthly.

"Now we'll have to prioritize which bills we can pay and which can wait," said one mother of two about a looming freeze in food aid.

About 42 million people receive money through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, sometimes called food stamps. The U.S. Agriculture Department told states in an Oct. 10 letter that if the shutdown continues, the program will run out of money to pay for benefits in November.

Boone County commissioners are set to help keep the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri afloat as low-income locals worry the shutdown will mean no federal food assistance. The commission is amending its contract to provide the food bank with American Rescue Act Funds to pour in an additional $50,

Due to the ongoing government shutdown, the prospect of November's SNAP benefits going unpaid indefinitely is growing closer.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are expiring in two days amid the nearly one-month-long government shutdown. Based on 2024's fiscal year, nearly 42 million low-income Americans relied on SNAP to afford groceries and receive crucial food assistance.

SNAP benefits are expected to stop on November 1st, as the U.S. government shutdown continues, leaving families left scrambling to figure out how to put food on the table.