New York City officials and anti-hunger groups are bracing for deep cuts by Republicans in Congress to the federal food stamp program that feeds more residents than ever before: 1.8 million people across the city, including more than half a million children. 

City officials estimate even conservative reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as SNAP could amount to a loss of $870 million a year for the city — or $130 a month for a family of three. Food insecurity organizations are now pushing the Adams administration to pump up city funding for local pantries, and at the state level, advocates are hoping to set a minimum monthly payment for SNAP as well as increase funding for food banks. But those efforts wouldn’t be enough to make up the major gulf left by the federal government. 

Emergency food advocates say the consequences will devastate the one in five New Yorkers who use SNAP dollars, and also affect the local economy as people spend less in grocery stores, bodegas and farmers markets. They also warn that the city’s food pantries and soup kitchens could be overwhelmed.

“ There's really no way that the city and the state can step up and fill holes of those magnitudes, ” said Molly Wasow Park, commissioner of the Department of Social Services.

Read more at Gothamist.com.