HARDWICK – As the result of the federal government shutdown, the Hardwick Area Food Pantry (HAFP), the Buffalo Mountain Market, Front Seat Coffee, the Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE) and others, have been scrambling to prepare for an anticipated November 1 end to food stamp (SNAP) benefits that support the Three Squares Vermont program.
While state and federal officials work through whatever funding they can put in place, The Buffalo Mountain Market’s Emily Hershberger “is putting together a donation account that will help people with SNAP benefits receive a $50 gift card through Buffalo Mountain,” according to the Hardwick Area Food Pantry’s (HAFP) Stella James.
Locally it is hoped those gift cards might help carry food stamp recipients through this period without benefits.
Emily Hershberger, general manager of the Buffalo Mountain Market said recently that three to four percent of the market’s revenue comes from Three Squares Vermont payments.
Slightly over 10% of Vermonters receive those benefits, though they rarely cover a family’s entire monthly food budget.
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Front Seat Coffee is donating 10% of its sales to fund the market’s gift card, saying in a social media post Monday that $800 had been “donated from the last couple days.”
The CAE is organizing the production of soups, which will then be distributed through the HAFP in containers provided by the market, according to James and the CAE’s Bethany Dunbar
James says the CAE is “giving us free storage space to store a two week emergency supply of food” and “the Vermont Food Bank has graciously offered to help pay for some of these emergency food supplies. We are prepared to see more households than usual but are yet unsure what the need will be.”
Dunbar says these supports have been put in place quickly, but it’s a good use of the new community kitchen and “there seems to be energy around looking for ways to continue.”
“Vermont officials voted to fund food assistance for the first half of November on Wednesday in the absence of federal funding while the shutdown continues in Washington, D.C,” wrote VTDigger, October 29.
“‘It’s our obligation at this point as states to do what we can for the people we serve,’” Scott told reporters after the meeting. “‘This is a basic benefit that many, many Vermonters rely on.’”
The state says 50% of the usual monthly benefits will be available to food stamp recipients without any special application, and in the same way they have been receiving their benefits, on or before November 7.
The Vermont Emergency Board plans to meet again by November 13 to decide whether to issue the second half of the benefits if the federal funding lapse continues.
A court decision late last week ordered the federal government to use an emergency fund to provide some SNAP benefits during the shutdown.
Tuesday in a post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote, SNAP benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department seems to be moving toward releasing some of the emergency funds to provide 50% of SNAP benefits on a delayed schedule.
CBS News reported a Monday filing by the Justice Department indicating “the Department of Agriculture would provide states with information necessary for calculating the benefits due to each eligible household, which would allow states to then begin disbursements.”
She suggested it would be a cumbersome process that could result in a weeks-long delay for food stamp recipients.
“If the government opens, families get their FULL benefit much more quickly,” wrote Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on X, adding that her agency sent notice to states Tuesday morning.
Last year, 84 volunteers at the HAFP’s three sites, in Hardwick, Craftsbury and Albany, provided food to 2,400 people in 836 households and from 63 towns. Eight hundred fifty four were children and 495 seniors. Home delivery served 300 people.
Brewery’s near and far have been supporting the HAFP with Hill Farmstead’s Festival of Farmhouse Ales bottle raffle raising over $11,000 for the HAFP, Lawson’s Finest Liquids’ Sunshine Fund contributing more than $14,000 in July and The Alchemist continuing to support it year-round through Tips for Change.
Adding to HAFP capacity to help feed area residents, each week, Jasper Hill Farm donates 120 half-gallons of milk that are distributed across all three of the HAFP sites.
The HAFP’s James said the milk saves needed funds for other essential items.
“This gift not only helps families access fresh, local food — it also allows us to stretch our resources further. . . We are so grateful to Jasper Hill Farm for their generosity and for helping keep our community well-nourished.”
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
