Hungry for relief

Due to the Federal government shutdown, there are no funds for the government to provide the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, said Robert Salazar, a clinical assistant professor for the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at UTRGV. 

Salazar added people who receive food stamps or any financial help from the government have been aware of the fact that they won’t get as many benefits or any. 

Who is affected by this?

Salazar said people who receive food stamps or any financial help from the government have been aware of the fact that they won’t get as many benefits or any. He added the lack of SNAP benefits impacts people of all ages. 

People who struggle with health issues, such as diabetes and have to follow a specific diet will also be affected.

 “They will eat whatever they can, even if it’s not good for their health,” Salazar said.

He added everyone will be affected by the lack of benefits and since most sales come from people who get financial help from the government, the sales are going to go down. 

According to Salazar, people who work for local businesses aren’t going to be able to work as much and provide enough income for their families. 

 “Maybe [students are] hungry, they don’t go to class, maybe they drop the class. It creates that kind of domino effect on the whole family.” 

He said because people won’t be getting SNAP benefits, they might rely on food pantries, churches or any community location that provides these services to them. 

What are other resources?

UTRGV has a food pantry on the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses available for students.

Kenneth Isaac Balboa, a social work graduate student, is an intern at the Dean of Students’ Office and has worked with the food pantry at UTRGV. 

The food pantry gets its resources from donations and grants that allow them to get groceries from stores such as H-E-B and Sam’s Club. 

“The food pantry will be affected in the sense that I feel that maybe more students will utilize that resource here at UTRGV since they’re not able to get that extra food from their SNAP benefits or EBT,” he said. “Which we are open to receiving more people actually.” 

 According to Balboa, not many people know about the food pantry or have never been there due to stigma and lack of knowledge. He said some people don’t use the food pantry to their benefit because they think that they make too much money or not enough money, but the only requirement is to be a UTRGV student. 

“In terms of resources here at the food pantry, I wanna say we’re pretty self-sufficient,” he said. “We actually do encourage that a lot of people do utilize that resource.” 

The food pantry on the Edinburg campus can be found at the University Center room 114 and at Casa Bella on the Brownsville campus. Order forms can be accessed on the UTRGV website, and can be contacted through email at foodpantry@utrgv.edu.