Happy Friday, and welcome to Food Fix. This is the 300th edition of this newsletter, which the New York Times recently referred to as an “influential blog.” Blog is very mid-aughts, but I’ll take it!
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Alright, let’s get to it –
Helena
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Millions of SNAP beneficiaries remain in limbo in court battle over benefits
The 1 in 8 Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy groceries have been hit with a torrent of conflicting headlines about the status of November benefits this week.
Seriously, it’s been pure chaos. On Monday, the Trump administration told federal courts it would tap emergency funds to cover roughly half of SNAP benefits for November. This was a relief to many, but also raised a number of logistical issues (and more court fights — as plaintiffs argued USDA was legally required to pay benefits in full). By Tuesday morning, USDA had issued guidance to states on how to re-calculate SNAP benefits so they could be partially issued at 50 percent (give or take). Within hours, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to say that the administration would not pay out SNAP benefits until the shutdown ended — a proclamation that would be straight up defying a federal court order. (The president also falsely claimed that the Biden administration had been “haphazardly” handing out SNAP benefits to basically anyone who asked for them.)
Later that day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt walked all of this back and said no, actually the administration would follow the court order and partially pay out SNAP benefits — welcome news for SNAP beneficiaries (and the U.S. Constitution).
On Wednesday, USDA issued different guidance to states and gave new instructions on how to essentially cover 65 percent of normal benefits, which was sort of welcomed (it’s more than 50 percent!) but also complicated things further for state agencies already scrambling to administer the program during this chaos.
Mid-week we genuinely seemed on track for partial November benefits to move forward, but then on Thursday a federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to release full funding for November SNAP benefits by Friday (as in today!)
Per Politico: “Last weekend, SNAP benefits lapsed for the first time in our nation’s history. This is a problem that could have and should have been avoided,” said U.S. District Judge John McConnell, an Obama appointee. The government “knew there would be a long delay in paying [partial] SNAP benefits and failed to consider the harms individuals who rely on those benefits would suffer.”
The Trump administration this morning appealed the decision to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which sends the timing of November benefits into question once again.
In a court filing, lawyers argued that the court can’t force USDA to spend money that Congress hasn’t appropriated (remember, Congress holds the power of the purse). USDA has already agreed to use its SNAP contingency fund to partially pay out SNAP benefits for November, but fully paying out SNAP (as the federal judge ordered) would require dipping into other pots of money that could lead to shortfalls for school nutrition and other related programs.
“This is a crisis, to be sure, but it is a crisis occasioned by congressional failure, and that can only be solved by congressional action,” the administration argues. “Instead, a single district judge has devised his own solution: ordering USDA to cover the SNAP shortfall by transferring billions of dollars that were appropriated for different, equally critical food-security programs—and to do so within just one business day (i.e., by today). This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers.”
The administration is seeking a stay (or halt) on the previous order to pay full benefits by 4 p.m. today. Even if the administration gets a stay here, I would still expect partial SNAP benefits to move forward. We’ll have to see.
Reax: Anti-hunger groups and Democrats have responded to the appeal with fury. “This court order bolsters what we have known for weeks — that the Trump administration recklessly and unnecessarily drove millions of people into hunger, anxiety, and despair as they lost their critically-needed SNAP benefits,” said Abby Leibman, president and CEO of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, in a statement. “That it is now the official position of this administration that they are not responsible for Americans in need is not surprising, but it is certainly appalling.”
State-by-state: It’s my understanding that many states are ready to roll in either scenario — partial or full November benefits — they are just waiting for a greenlight. While states are in a holding pattern, SNAP beneficiaries are getting different messages about what to expect in the coming days depending on which state they’re in (SNAP is federally funded but administered by the states). Food Fix editorial assistant Domenic Strazzabosco took a spin through state websites and found many are saying that they are waiting on Washington. Here’s a handy spreadsheet with a breakdown of what each state has communicated about November benefits.
Like many states, California — which typically issues $1 billion to more than 5 million people participating in CalFresh — is pointing to the feds: “At this time, the amount of benefits or when they will be added to your EBT card is unknown, as the state is still waiting for instructions from the federal government. Once USDA sends this necessary information, California will work to get benefits out as quickly as possible.”
In Pennsylvania, the SNAP page specifically blamed the GOP, which struck me as unusually political for a state agency: “Because Republicans in Washington D.C., failed to pass a federal budget, causing the federal government shutdown, November 2025 SNAP benefits cannot be paid,” the website says. “We will notify SNAP recipients when payments can resume, and we will let you know when to expect SNAP payments.”
Some states, such as Illinois, Michigan and North Carolina have announced they will be issuing partial benefits starting today or tomorrow. Those payments may be on hold now as we figure out where the courts are going to land. Hopefully we will have more clarity on all of this very soon. In the meantime, chaos.
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What I’m reading
US to announce new dietary guidelines in December, Kennedy says (Reuters). “U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration will release new dietary guidelines in December aimed at reducing high rates of obesity and changing the country’s food culture, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Thursday,” Steve Holland reports. “‘We’re about to release dietary guidelines that are going to change the food culture in this country,’ Kennedy told reporters during an event in the Oval Office, where Trump announced a deal with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to cut the price of weight loss drugs. ‘We’re releasing those in December.’”
America’s grocery lifeline is fraying (The Atlantic). “As anxiety about hunger mounts, some state agencies have advised SNAP beneficiaries to stock up on canned goods such as beans, soup, fruit, and tuna. Only, those foods aren’t so reliably affordable as they once were, in part because of restrictions on the materials that go into the cans themselves,” Yasmin Tayag writes. “Canning requires a special type of metal called tin-mill steel, which the U.S. imports from Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands…. Since Trump’s first term, those imports have been subject to a 25 percent tariff; in June, it rose to 50 percent for steel coming from most countries. Trump’s tariffs are meant to stimulate American manufacturing, but the U.S. is simply not equipped to produce enough tin-mill steel. Canned-food manufacturers have been passing the extra cost to retailers and, inevitably, consumers. From September 2024 to September 2025, the average consumer price of canned fruits and vegetables rose by 5 percent, nearly double the increase observed in food in general, according to government data.”
Trump announces deal with Lilly, Novo to expand access to weight loss drugs, cut prices (STAT). “The Trump administration announced a deal Thursday to expand access to popular obesity drugs made by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly — offering more coverage for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and lowering the prices across the board,” report Daniel Payne and Elaine Chen. “The administration argued that giving millions more people access to these drugs represents a major victory in the fight against chronic disease. The precise timeline for the coverage expansion and the extent of who will gain access remain unclear. Medicare and Medicaid will receive substantial discounts on the drugs, and will cover them for some individuals with overweight or obesity. The companies have agreed to sell the treatments for $245 a month across both programs for weight loss and diabetes. Medicare beneficiaries will have a $50 copay, and commercial plans will also receive discounts. The most popular drugs, Wegovy and Zepbound, carry list prices of around $1,000 a month, and are available directly from the drugmakers without insurance for about $500.”
Bird flu surges among poultry amid a scaled back federal response (NPR). “As birds fly south for the winter, they’re carrying with them some unwelcome cargo: the H5N1 virus, or bird flu. In the past 30 days, the virus has struck 66 poultry flocks, leading to the deaths of more than 3.5 million turkeys, chickens and ducks,” reports Will Stone. “At the moment, states in the middle of the country are hardest hit. But scientists expect more outbreaks in other parts of the country, given bird migratory patterns. If not taken seriously, the fallout could lead to more than high egg prices. Influenza researchers fear a replay of last year when, for the first time, the U.S. saw close to 70 human cases, including one death. And though no human cases have been reported since early this year, scientists involved in tracking the virus say they don’t have good visibility into what’s happening in animals or humans. That’s because the federal government has scaled back on surveillance and communication.”
They’re rescuing olive trees, for much more than the oil (New York Times). “Giulio Zavolta and Rachelle Bross dreamed for years of growing olives. In 2012, they finally found a 20-acre grove not far from their home in Los Angeles. The first thing the couple did was bring in the chainsaws. For the next several years, the couple nursed the grove back to health. Soon, they were able to sell olives to a local cannery, as the farm’s previous owners had for decades,” writes Jane Black. “The olive tree (Olea europaea) is an unusually resilient plant. It can live and produce fruit for hundreds, even thousands, of years. But today, 13.6 million acres of olive groves — and billions of trees — around the world are at risk of abandonment. Mr. Zavolta and Dr. Bross are not the only ones trying to save them, and reverse the environmental and social consequences of their loss. Entrepreneurs and nonprofits across the Mediterranean are also working to revitalize abandoned groves.”
Saturated fat debate overlooks toxic chemical contaminants in industrial meat (The Hill). “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Movement have effectively united the country around the urgent need to address our nation’s costly chronic disease epidemic. Where there is less agreement is the debate over saturated fat,” write Kari Hamerschalg and Liam Gray in an opinion piece. “Amid the fierce debates over whether butter is better than seed oil, one critical issue has been largely ignored: the large number of harmful chemical contaminants hiding in animal fat. This conversation is especially urgent with imminent release of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and statements by Kennedy … Although there is broad agreement on the need to cut down on ultra-processed foods made with seed oils, Kennedy and other MAHA advocates pushing full fat animal products are failing to acknowledge the toxic load that comes with industrial meat and dairy products, which make up at least 95 percent of the animal foods people eat.”
The French know how to do food. Even when it’s frozen. (New York Times). “Just off a bustling street near her apartment in Paris, Mathilde Touvier, one of France’s leading nutrition scientists, slips into Picard, the frozen-food grocery chain. Ms. Touvier beelines for the back, where freezers brim with bags and boxes of prechopped raw vegetables,” Julia Belluz writes. “Before there were MAHA moms and trad wives boasting homemade bread and feta on social media, there was a societal push to get Americans back into the kitchen. Today, Make America Healthy Again leaders have, at least in rhetoric, picked up where that movement left off, railing against ultraprocessed foods and touting ‘MAHA boxes’ of fresh produce to be shipped nationwide. All this overlooks a key fact: The burden of food procurement and cooking is still shouldered overwhelmingly by women, most of whom now also work outside the home. Parisians like Ms. Touvier have come to embrace a middle path. As is the case in America, companies in France have been marketing convenience foods to women for decades as liberation from kitchen drudgery.”
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