"No one, especially kids, people with disabilities, veterans, older adults, should be left wondering if they can afford their next meal."
As Congress implements nearly $190 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP, public health experts are warning that millions of Americans may face greater food insecurity, increased financial hardship, and declining health outcomes in the years ahead.
During a recent American Community Media briefing, researchers and policy experts examined the impact of the cuts while introducing a new tool designed to help journalists, advocates, and policymakers track how federal nutrition policy affects communities across the country. The Congressional District Health Dashboard, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, now includes SNAP participation data for every congressional district in the United States, offering a detailed look at where families rely most heavily on food assistance.
Giridhar Mallya, senior policy officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said more than three million people have already lost SNAP benefits since the passage of the federal budget law in July 2025. As additional provisions take effect, he said another million people could lose benefits entirely or see significant reductions.
The scale of the program remains substantial. Approximately 42 million Americans currently rely on SNAP to help purchase food. Nearly four in ten recipients are children. The program also serves seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and working adults whose incomes remain insufficient to cover basic needs. On average, individuals receive about $188 per month, while households receive roughly $332. Mallya noted that the average benefit amounts to approximately $1.50 per meal.
Originally established in 1964 and once known as the Food Stamp Program, SNAP has historically enjoyed bipartisan support through federal farm bills. Mallya described it as one of the nation's most effective public health interventions, citing research linking the program to improved childhood health, stronger educational outcomes, reduced poverty, and greater economic stability for families.
"SNAP is one of the most amazing public health policies and programs that we have in our country," he said.
Researchers say the new Congressional District Health Dashboard arrives at a critical moment. Developed through a partnership between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and researchers at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, the dashboard provides data on more than 40 indicators related to health, economics, housing, education, and healthcare access. The newly added SNAP metric allows users to examine participation rates at the congressional district level and track changes over time.
Lorna Thorpe, chair of NYU's Department of Population Health and a principal investigator for the project, said the goal is to provide reliable local data that can help communities understand how federal policies affect daily life.
According to the dashboard, more than one in six households nationwide participated in SNAP during the third quarter of 2025. While national participation rates remained relatively stable between 2022 and 2025, significant geographic differences emerged. Some congressional districts reported participation rates as low as 3 percent, while others approached 60 percent.
California illustrates those disparities clearly. Statewide participation exceeded the national average, with nearly one quarter of households receiving SNAP assistance. In portions of the Central Valley, including districts centered around Bakersfield and Fresno, more than half of households participated in the program.
The briefing devoted considerable attention to the policy changes now reshaping the program. Mallya outlined four major provisions included in last year's legislation.
The first expands work requirements. Adults between ages 55 and 64 are now subject to documentation requirements that previously did not apply to them. Parents of teenagers as young as 14 may also be affected. Veterans and some other groups that previously qualified for exemptions have lost those protections. Mallya argued that similar requirements in other public assistance programs have historically reduced enrollment without significantly increasing employment.
"The majority of SNAP participants who can work do work," he said. "Work requirements don't work."
A second provision shifts additional costs from the federal government to the states. Beginning this year, states must cover a larger share of administrative expenses. Starting in 2027, most states will also be required to contribute directly toward food benefit costs, a responsibility they have never previously carried. Depending on the state, those costs could amount to hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
The legislation also removes eligibility for some categories of lawfully present immigrants, including refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking. Mallya said the policy changes, combined with broader immigration enforcement actions, are already discouraging eligible immigrants and mixed-status families from accessing benefits.
"We're seeing drops in participation among immigrants who are citizens, among green card holders, and among citizen children whose parents may not be," he said.
Several reporters raised concerns about the effect of immigration enforcement on participation rates. Mallya said fear has become a significant barrier, with some families avoiding public programs altogether despite remaining eligible. He pointed to reports that data from certain government programs has been shared with immigration enforcement agencies, further increasing anxiety among immigrant communities.
The fourth major change freezes future SNAP benefit growth. While benefits were recalculated in 2021 to better reflect contemporary food costs, the new law permanently freezes that formula. Over time, inflation will erode purchasing power for all recipients, effectively reducing benefits even for those who remain enrolled.
Experts warned that the consequences will extend beyond grocery budgets. Research has linked SNAP participation to improved health outcomes, better medication adherence among seniors, and lower rates of hospitalization. While it is still too early to measure the full effects of the recent cuts, Mallya said previous studies suggest that reductions in food assistance often create costs elsewhere in the healthcare system.
The economic effects may also be significant. According to estimates cited during the briefing, every dollar spent through SNAP generates roughly $2.50 in local economic activity. Food retailers, neighborhood grocery stores, farmers, and local economies all benefit from the spending generated through the program.
Food banks, often viewed as a safety net when benefits are reduced, are unlikely to absorb the losses. Mallya noted that for every meal provided by food banks, SNAP provides approximately nine. Rising food prices have already placed pressure on charitable food providers in many communities.
Questions from reporters repeatedly returned to California, where approximately 300,000 people have already fallen off SNAP rolls since the legislation was enacted. Experts noted that communities already experiencing economic inequality are likely to feel the greatest effects. Black households, Latino households, and some Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are disproportionately represented among SNAP recipients because of longstanding income disparities. As participation declines, those communities may shoulder a disproportionate share of the consequences.
By the conclusion of the briefing, speakers emphasized that the new dashboard provides more than just statistics. It offers a baseline from which journalists and communities can measure the real-world effects of policy changes as they unfold.
"SNAP is a lifeline for millions of families," Thorpe said. "When we pair it with the other dashboard data on health and factors that influence health, we can begin to see how SNAP policy changes are affecting communities across the country."
For Mallya, the data ultimately point back to a broader question about national priorities.
"In the richest country in the world," he said, "we can do better."
