The 2025 government shutdown^[1] drew widespread attention to how many Americans struggle to get enough food. For 43 days, the more than 42 million Americans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program^[2] benefits had to find other ways to stock their cupboards.

When asked how she felt about her benefits being suspended, one woman in West Virginia^[3] told a New York Times reporter, “We’re angry. Because we do...