Oh snap

Just like that, the Trump Administration cut off SNAP, the formal name for food stamps, leaving 42 million people scrambling to eat.

With a figurative snap of the fingers, President Trump’s administration announced that it’s cutting off SNAP benefits—the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps—on November 1. 

Just like that, nearly 42 million Americans will likely miss multiple meals next month so they can pay rent and bills. Most SNAP recipients are either children, elders, or folks living with disabilities who can’t work. Cutting off food assistance for one in eight Americans who rely on it isn’t just cruel—it’s unsustainable.

What we have here is a situation where tens of millions of disadvantaged and disenfranchised folks are about to be thrust into survival mode. While humans can survive without food for up to three weeks, most of us need it three times a day to thrive. And because most Americans live in cities or suburbs, we can’t simply forage or grow enough to live off the land. Unless you’ve got a big yard, a green thumb, and a tolerance for urban rodents or lake fish—which we shouldn’t be eating anyway due to pollutants and pathogens—you depend on the system for sustenance. 

Anyone who thinks this move isn’t calculated is fooling themselves. From President Trump’s perspective, millions of folk losing food assistance is not collateral damage of the current government shutdown—it’s a desired feature.

As anyone with an affinity for history and a Google machine can tell you, Trump is running one of the oldest plays in the authoritarian playbook: manufacture unrest to justify martial law and consolidate power. He saw the unrest that erupted in our cities after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 and wants a repeat. He’s hoping that hungry people will riot out of desperation so he can declare a “national emergency,” impose martial law, and make himself dictator. If not in name, then in spirit. 

We’ve recently seen a version of this before in a non-despotic context when Ukrainian national elections scheduled for 2024 were suspended under martial law. U.S. law doesn’t explicitly forbid elections in any situation—but it wouldn’t take a brilliant legal mind to make a colorable argument for suspending democracy in the name of “safety.” And as we’ve learned, this administration tests every limit it thinks it can get away with.

Anyone who believes we’ll have free and fair elections in 2028 if Trump remains in power is, again, fooling themselves. That man intends to die in the White House.

President Trump is hoping for George Floyd 2.0. Only this time, instead of one troubled man getting choked out, he’s choking out 42 million humans already on hard times—including 17 million children. 

But we won’t take the bait. We won’t go for the okie doke. Instead, we’ll elevate the quality of our consciousness by taking care of our brothers, sisters, and everyone else with a human spirit in need.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which administers SNAP, characterizes recipients as “food insecure.” Without those benefits, they’re not just food insecure—they’re about to be straight hungry.

If you have even a little to spare, donate your time, money, or non-perishable goods to your local food shelf.

If you’re in Minnesota where I live, you can find a map of local food shelves here:

https://www.hungersolutions.org/find-help/

If you live elsewhere, just type “food shelf near me” into Google. You’ll find what your local shelves accept, usually staples like peanut butter, canned meat or fish, beans, pasta, and soups. Some take cooking oils, flour, and spices; others welcome toiletries, diapers, and cleaning supplies. Check ahead and give what you can.

I was going to drop off some canned goods at my local food shelf today, but instead I smoked weed, listened to Miley Cyrus for inspiration, and banged out this j’essay. Then I donated a bill directly to Eastside Neighborhood Services, a local nonprofit organization that runs a food shelf for seniors. Their website lets you earmark donations for food programs, but I trust them to use mine where it’s needed most.

Someone once said that people aren’t going hungry because we can’t feed the poor—they go hungry because we can’t satisfy the rich. 

There’s more than enough abundance to go around for everyone to eat, yet Trump and his cronies have concentrated wealth so that the richest 10 percent of Americans control 70 percent of the money. Now they’re squeezing the poorest 10 percent—the ones on food stamps—even more by cutting off their ability to eat, hoping to spark unrest and grab even more power.

Fortunately, we have the power to stop that. All it takes is leading with our hearts.

Do good. Be kind. Put love first.

Donate to your local food shelf and prove to President Trump that while he can cut off SNAP, he’ll never cut off our humanity. Or the power of love.