Inflation and the end of emergency pandemic allotments from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are taking a bite out of many area residents food budgets. It is a situation that officials with local food pantries expect to only see grow worse in the coming weeks and months, leading to an influx of people in need of their services.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, SNAP provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families so they can purchase healthy food and move toward self-sufficiency. SNAP is also commonly referred to as food stamps.

Almost 3 million New Yorkers who receive SNAP benefits have been affected by the emergency allotments being rescinded. To address their food insecurity, many families are expected to turn to food pantries for additional assistance.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 54,000 residents of the four-county region of Herkimer, Lewis, Madison and Oneida counties, receive, or are eligible to receive, SNAP benefits. That’s roughly 15%, or 1 in 7, of the region’s more than 384,000 total population, according to the federal figures.

To be sure, there are regions of the state with greater numbers of individuals and percentages suffering from food insecurity, but that doesn’t minimize the substantial impacts of food insecurity on our region.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, our region showed remarkable spirit in helping those in need in our area receive food. Who can forget the lines of cars at drive-thru food giveaways with volunteers delivering box after box of food donated by churches, individuals and a host of local companies and businesses seeking to help their neighbors.

While things are undoubtedly better across the board than those early days of the pandemic, unfortunately the issue of food insecurity remains for many. Our local food pantries rely on both donations of food and money in order to address this ongoing issue, which sadly appears to once again be increasing.

We applaud the ongoing effort of dozens of local service agencies and organizations that fight and have fought food insecurity for years.

Likewise, we are grateful for the work of the Connected Community Schools network for quietly providing food to students and their families, hoping to reduce the impact of food insecurity on the education of tens of thousands of local students.

Likewise, we are encouraged by the hundreds of local businesses that continue to host food drives among their employees and customers, as well as the region’s faith communities, for their ongoing efforts to help those in need.

Those in need can find a food pantry or soup-kitchen by visiting 211midyork.com