10/21/2025 – Tulsa, OK: Today’s news about a disruption in SNAP benefits is a painful blow for so many of our friends, neighbors, and families who rely on this support. We stand with them and feel the urgency of the impact this decision will have.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) plays a vital role for hundreds of thousands of Oklahoma families. In Oklahoma, the average benefit is about $6 per person per day. That modest amount is a lifeline for many Oklahomans; supporting families, sustaining local retailers, and keeping dollars circulating in our communities.
In Oklahoma, SNAP brings roughly $100 million every month in federal food assistance; money that goes directly into grocery stores, corner markets, and local economies. Without it, thousands of Oklahoma families would struggle to afford basic groceries, turning to already overwhelmed food pantries that cannot meet the surge in demand. Grocery stores, especially in rural areas, would see sharp declines in sales, harming local jobs and weakening the food supply chain. In just one month, the loss of SNAP would mean less food on tables, less income for businesses, and profound hardship for communities already facing high rates of food insecurity.
Charitable food assistance networks such as food pantries, emergency meal providers, and other nonprofits simply cannot fill the gap left by a weakened SNAP program. The demand for help already surpasses what many pantries can reliably supply. For every one meal provided by a food bank, SNAP provides nine.
In short, SNAP is not just a benefit for individual households, SNAP is a critical linchpin in Oklahoma’s food security system. Those who have the ability to resolve this SNAP issue must step up; families across Oklahoma, and our country, are depending on it.
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Hunger Free Oklahoma is an anti-hunger organization dedicated to improving food access for all Oklahoma. HFO leverages the power of collaboration to solve hunger in Oklahoma by improving systems, policies, and practices. Learn more at HungerFreeOK.org.