As federal employees miss paychecks and families brace for food stamp benefits drying up, food banks across North Texas say they are preparing for a surge in need brought on by the ongoing shutdown and widespread furloughs.
The government has been shut down since Oct. 1 after failing to pass a funding bill in the U.S. Senate. Since then, some federal employees have been furloughed while others have been working without pay. That includes air traffic controllers, federal law enforcement officers and military families.
As a result, more than 13,000 employees and contractors have been missing paychecks, forcing some to seek food assistance at local food banks.
Nonprofits like the North Texas Food Bank say they’ve been closely monitoring the shutdown to try and adjust services if the shutdown extends beyond October.
“We're trying to just wade through what is true and what is not,” said Clarissa Clarke, government relations officer with the NTFB, “and just focusing on helping our neighbors.”
The North Texas Food Bank operates in 12 counties and partners with more 500 partner banks reaching as far south as Navarro County. Since the start of the shutdown, NTFB and its partners have had frequent meetings to avoid any early signs of strain.
Even prior to the shutdown, federal grant cuts from the Trump Administration have made it more difficult for food banks to operate.
The largest cut to federal assistance came when the USDA discontinued the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. The NTFB received nearly $10 million from the USDA that allowed food banks to purchase fresh, local produce from area farmers.
The food bank was able to adjust the loss of funding which would have been used for the 2026 fiscal year, but other factors like post-pandemic inflation and cost-of-living have dramatically increased costs, said food bank spokesperson Jeff Smith.
“NTFB is now spending four to five times more on food than we did four years ago,” Smith said. “Before the pandemic, our annual food spending averaged around $5 million; today, it’s closer to $25–30 million because of both higher demand and increased costs.”
Meanwhile, food banks are also preparing for its surge ahead of the holiday season.
The Tarrant Area Food Bank has seen an increase in donations and volunteers ahead of its holiday distribution, which starts mid-November. As a result, the bank remains confident it can handle the rise in demand due to the government shutdown, said Jared Williams with the Tarrant Area Food Bank.
“We are closely monitoring impacts on the ground, whether that’s federal employees or contracted workers,” Williams said. “If we see a huge increase in demand, we’ll deploy additional resources and potentially host more distributions where local agencies can’t meet the need.”
Williams added that the TAFB has also felt the impact of federal funding reductions, losing more than $4.2 million in government support last year. The organization, which serves 12 counties, is now backing up new legislation that would replace the LFPA.
“We’re advocating for programs that strengthen nutrition and support our local agriculture economies,” Williams said. “When neighbors face crisis, produce and protein are often the first things they can’t afford.”
That bill, called the Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act, was introduced in July, but is still in committee.
Both food banks are still urging families to apply for SNAP benefits, or food stamps, even as funds run out. SNAP has secured funding for October for 3.5 million Texans, but it sees its’ allocations run out at the end of the month.
For now, the food banks say they remain confident in their ability to provide food assistance if the shutdown continues. But they do warn that an extended shutdown could place additional strain on already stretched resources.
Leaders at both banks say they’ve been in frequent contact with local and federal officials to stay informed and coordinate potential responses.
“We're following the news just like everybody else, and we don't know,” said Clarke. “We have good relationships with all of our members of the Congress, the House and Senate, and they are very supportive of what we do. We stay in contact with them, but it seems like there's kind of a deadlock right now.”
Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Emmanuel at erivas@kera.org.
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