Feeding the Gulf Coast Food Bank

Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must to continue to fund SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using contingency funds during the government shutdown. An estimated 750,000 Alabamians depend on SNAP benefits to eat.

A federal judge in Boston on Thursday seemed skeptical of the Trump's administration's argument that SNAP benefits could be suspended for the first time in the food aid program's history because of the government shutdown. The website USA Facts says 750,000 Alabamians use SNAP benefits to buy groceries.

The Trump White House will order an end to federal measurement of food insecurity. That’s a situation where Americans either fail to have the resources to eat regularly, or live in so called “food deserts,” where access to groceries including fresh fruit and vegetables is limited.This is an on-going problem in Alabama.

The cost of groceries is up this summer. The news comes as Gulf Coast food banks say they’re feeding a record number of hungry families. Many of those individuals also get by with the help of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. Formerly called food stamps. As you may have heard, Congress recently voted to shift a greater burden of SNAP funding to the states. In the first of a two part report on food insecurity and food access, here’s takes a look at what those changes to SNAP might mean for Alabama’s hungriest residents.

Alabama is getting a $100,000 federal grant to encourage school districts to buy fresh local fruits and vegetables. The Alabama Department of Agriculture…