The Houston Food Bank is stepping up distribution as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits dry up and federal workers continue to go without pay. Why it matters: The federal government shutdown will stop food aid Saturday for nearly 42 million Americans.

The Houston Food Bank, along with other anti-hunger organizations, prepares for the surge in demand they expect will come with the end of SNAP benefits on Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown.

Texas is home to 254 counties—more than any other U.S. state—and has wide disparities in SNAP enrollment. According to a September 2025 report from Texas Health and Human Services, Lamar County had the highest enrollment at 29.5 percent of residents, while King County had the lowest at 0.7 percent.

Employed single mothers who make less than $41,000 per year rely on about $400 a month in government assistance to feed their children. But as the federal The Houston Food Bank's call volume has spiked since the federal government announced it would not be releasing SNAP benefits in November.

The potential SNAP benefit delay could increase growing hunger crisis in Texas, a state which has the highest population of food insecure people in the U.S.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are expiring in two days amid the nearly one-month-long government shutdown. Based on 2024's fiscal year, nearly 42 million low-income Americans relied on SNAP to afford groceries and receive crucial food assistance.