When Trena Picou heard that the US Department of Agriculture agreed last week to issue partial food stamp benefits for November to comply with a federal court order, she was hopeful that she’d get around half of her usual $263 allotment. The funds would help buy meat, potatoes, beans and rice for the two teen grandsons that she and her husband are raising.
But the Houma, Louisiana, resident only received $64, which just covered a few packs of meat, cereal and milk and nearly brought her to tears.
A few days later, her hopes were raised again when the USDA said it was processing full Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, payments to comply with another court order. But the judge’s ruling was quickly blocked by the Supreme Court, which left her depressed but not surprised.
Now, she’s pinning her hopes on Congress soon passing a spending package that could reopen the federal government and get full SNAP assistance flowing again to tens of millions of Americans who depend on the aid to feed themselves and their families.
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