No Kid Hungry Sounds the Alarm as Latino Communities Confront Rising Food Insecurity

Mariana Joyal, Senior Manager for Media Relations and Engagement at Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, has spent years listening to families describe what it feels like to ration food at the end of the month. In recent weeks, those stories have grown more desperate. As the federal shutdown enters its second month, 42 million Americans stand at the edge of losing access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the country’s largest food aid program. For millions of parents, this isn’t a political debate about budgets or procedure. No, it’s become so much more than that. It is now about survival.

In conversation with BELatina, Joyal spoke with clarity and restraint about what she calls “a hunger cliff like never before.” She described the fear spreading across communities as families await word on whether benefits will continue into November. “One in five kids rely on SNAP nationwide,” she said. “We’re talking about our neighbors, hard-working parents, veterans, and older folks having to make unthinkable decisions like skipping meals or not paying electricity and gas bills to make sure their children eat.”

The Legal Gridlock

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it will not distribute food assistance funds in November, citing an empty budget. “The well has run dry,” the agency said as reported by BBC, leaving millions of Americans uncertain about how they will afford groceries. A family of four typically receives seven hundred fifteen dollars each month through SNAP, an amount that equals less than six dollars per person per day.

As officials point fingers, the courts have at least intervened. On Sunday, two federal judges have ruled that the administration cannot suspend food aid during the shutdown and must access the USDA’s contingency fund to continue benefits. Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts wrote that Congress intended for SNAP to remain active even during lapses in federal funding. She ordered the administration to use emergency reserves and report progress by Monday.

However, the USDA maintains that the contingency fund, totaling six billion dollars, cannot cover the nine billion required to sustain the program each month. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that even if those funds are used, only sixty percent of beneficiaries would receive payments for a single month. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that payments “could be made as soon as Wednesday,” yet delays are expected.

While lawyers and agencies debate procedure, families wait in silence, unsure whether their grocery cards will reload when the month turns.

The Emergency Food System Cannot Replace SNAP

Joyal explained that food banks across the nation are already seeing surges in demand, with people lining up earlier and leaving with less. “The emergency food system simply cannot replace the role of our largest nutrition safety net,” she said. “Food pantries and food banks are overwhelmed. They were never designed to carry this kind of weight.”

The potential loss of benefits, she said, would ripple through local economies, creating confusion among retailers and state agencies that process SNAP transactions. “The loss of these grocery benefits will not only impact families but destabilize communities,” she said. “It is chaos that could have been avoided.”

Joyal believes the situation represents a moral failure rather than a bureaucratic one. “In a country as prosperous as ours, access to food cannot be negotiable,” she said. “We cannot ask Americans to wait for the USDA to act.”

Latino Families on the Frontline of Food Insecurity

Latino families face an even sharper burden in this crisis. According to the USDA, nearly one in four Latino children lives in a household experiencing hunger. “Our research shows that Latino families are disproportionately affected,” Joyal said. “Thirty-four percent reported job loss and forty-two percent saw their financial situations worsen this year.”

She spoke with admiration about the strength of Latino-led community organizations that have continued to serve families through food drives and local partnerships. “They show up every day with creativity and compassion, relying on promotoras and trusted community partners who understand the realities of those they serve,” she said. “But they cannot replace SNAP. They simply do not have the capacity.”

Joyal called access to food a universal right. “Every child deserves to eat,” she said. “We must stop treating food as a privilege that depends on circumstance.”

Finding Solutions Amid Uncertainty

Joyal and her team at No Kid Hungry continue to share practical resources with families navigating the crisis. “Families should visit local food pantries and make sure their children are enrolled in school meal programs,” she said. “Many schools provide breakfast and afterschool meals that help relieve the burden for parents.”

She recommended tools like FoodFinder, which connects people to nearby pantries, and 211, a national hotline that links individuals with local services such as housing and food support. “There is no replacement for SNAP,” she said. “But while we wait, families can use these resources to get through this moment.”

Lessons in Humanity Explained by No Kid Hungry

Joyal said there is much that national organizations can learn from Latino-led networks that operate closest to the communities affected. “They have the pulse of their neighborhoods,” she said. “They build trust through language, consistency, and care. They meet families where they are and treat them with dignity.”

She believes that the most effective response to hunger comes not from bureaucracy but from empathy. “We need to approach this crisis with humanity,” she said. “That is the only way to build lasting solutions.”

The Cost of Delay

As deadlines pass and courts demand accountability, millions of families remain in limbo. Even if emergency funds are approved, the coverage will reach only part of the population and delays will leave households waiting for food they need today.

Joyal’s voice carried a sense of fatigue but also conviction. “Federal nutrition programs are essential to ensuring no child goes hungry,” she said. “The USDA has both the funds and the authority to act. The contingency fund exists for emergencies like this, and it must be used immediately.”

The longer the government hesitates, the more families will fall through the cracks. The numbers may tell one story, but Joyal’s words reveal another. It is one where hunger is neither political nor abstract, where the absence of food becomes the most visible symptom of a system that forgot its people.