About 42 million people relied on federal food aid last year. That includes about 700,000 Wisconsin residents. Last month the Trump administration announced that it would not fund SNAP benefits starting in November because of the government shutdown. Though Congress voted to reopen the government and though a federal appeals court ordered the Trump administration to release SNAP funds, there’s much uncertainty about what is going to happen and when.
To talk about food insecurity and the status of SNAP funding, host Douglas Haynes is joined by two local food pantry leaders and a national expert on nutrition and public policy. Helen Osborn-Senatus is the Director of Operations for The River Food Pantry and she says they’ve seen a 27% increase from October in the number of people accessing their pantry. Tracy Burton is the Food Pantry Director at the Badger Prairie Needs Network, and they’ve seen 40% more people clients than last year and double the number of new families registering. She says the people they serve are confused and frustrated in what is an already a difficult time in terms of food and rent prices in Dane County. 
At the end of the day, food pantries are a safety net, and they can’t replace SNAP benefits. Dr. Lindsey Haynes-Maslow says that SNAP is the most successful and biggest food security program in the US because it lifts people out of hunger and “the rollercoaster of poverty.” She discusses how food insecurity intersects with other issues like chronic disease. Even if SNAP benefits are restored, says Dr. Haynes-Maslow, the program has been dramatically changed by provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill that expand work requirements, minimize the amount of funds issued to recipients, and shift the administrative cost of running the program to individual states. 

Tracy Burton is originally from Oregon, Wisconsin but left the state after graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. As a Sales and Marketing Executive for both tech firms and direct to consumer companies, Tracy lived throughout the US. After retiring in 2019, Tracy moved back home to the Madison area. She started volunteering at Badger Prairie Needs Network in 2020 and took on the role as the Director of the Food Pantry in the fall of 2022 as the pantry was transitioning back from pandemic curbside service to a choice shopping model. Tracy also serves on BPNN’s Board of Directors.
Lindsey Haynes-Maslow is a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill in the Department of Health Policy and Management. She is an expert on the intersection between public health and nutrition, as well as the impact of government policies and programs on health behaviors. She has over 20 years of experience working with non-profit, private, and public organizations that focus on diet-related chronic disease prevention for low-income, rural, and communities of color.
Helen Osborn-Senatus is the Director of Operations for The River Food Pantry. She earned her undergraduate degree from UW and then her Master’s in Social Work from Florida State University, and has worked in social services for the past 15 years. She has been with The River for six years, serving clients and supporting staff and volunteers in their work.
Featured image of a box of food via the USDA Flickr. 
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