‘How can food be political?’ Families in state that pioneered SNAP speak of hardship

Onita Norris is constantly running the numbers to try to solve a problem with no good answer: Figuring out much her two children, both under five, will have to eat, and how much she will have to go without.

The West Virginia single mother earns about $2,800 a month working 40 hours weekly for the state. About half of that goes toward rent. The rest is for daycare and her electric, water and phone bills, leaving her only about $100 from her paycheck for other expenses, including groceries.

Aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, usually adds $265 to her monthly budget for food. But with benefits disrupted as the government lurches into what is now its longest shutdown on record, Norris now must find other ways to feed her family.

“Rather than myself having, like, a full plate of food along with my kids, I’m making sure that they have a full plate of food,” Norris said. “I may have either less, or I may not eat.”