Much has been written about the impending suspension of SNAP, WIC and other benefits that the nation is collectively staring down — set to begin on Nov. 1, as of this writing.

We aren’t going to assign blame. We could — but we don’t see that as beneficial. Blaming our various political critters, party agnostic, doesn’t put food in peoples’ bellies.

Instead, we want to highlight that, even a week out, members of the community are beginning to mobilize to do something about it.

Tonight, a come-as-you-can community assembly will be held at Avenue 209 Coffee House, beginning at 5:30 p.m., for interested and able parties to workshop “plans to address food insecurity and other needs in our community,” as a poster circulating the community says.

Nationwide, there are 42 million people on SNAP. Locally, as of 2022, there were 5,637 SNAP recipients in Clinton County, or 15% of the total population.

The Express has written on this subject before — including as recently as March of this year.

“Materially, we have been abandoned for years. We are in the bottom third of poorest counties in Pennsylvania, with a 13.1% poverty rate. The city of Lock Haven, taken by itself, has a 25% poverty rate…If we are to be abandoned, then we must find ways to stand on our own — locally and regionally — or be faced with community-wide suffering,” we wrote at the time.

Maybe it’s the Democrats’ fault. Maybe it’s the Republicans’ fault.

Neither choice fills bellies, and those who would decry one class of politician or the other are ultimately standing in opposition to feeding our neighbors by distracting everyone from the key issue at stake here: people going hungry.

Feeding people is nonpartisan. Human society, at its most basic, fundamental level, is about food. We have come together as people since time immemorial over food — be it growing, harvesting, preparing or feasting. Food, along with air, water, sleep and shelter are absolutely critical for our survival. None of these things are optional or a luxury. They all directly feed into our health and wellness, and thus our ability to contribute to each other and our community — and to hold down a job.

Blocking the flow of food for a political vendetta is something which will always put you in the wrong, just as sure as restricting any of the other basic necessities.

Perhaps you think that some of the people on SNAP — or even a majority of them — are illegal immigrants, or people who choose to freeload off of our benefits system.

First of all, some information.

A 2020 study released by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office examined beneficiaries of Medicaid in a sampling of six states: Georgia, Indiana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Massachussetts and Maine. Among those states, Walmart was the top employer of Medicaid enrollees in half (and in the top four in the other half). McDonald’s was among the top five employers of Medicaid enrollees in five of the six. Other household names such as Amazon and Dollar General were also present.

The study also looked at SNAP in the six states previously listed, as well as Arkansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington. For SNAP, Walmart was the top employer for SNAP in five of the nine, and McDonalds was the top employer for SNAP in six of nine.

Here’s the kicker: the same study shows that, as of 2018 data, 48% of Medicaid enrollees and 51% of SNAP enrollees work at least 35 hours a week for 50 or more weeks a year; and an additional 20% of Medicaid enrollees and 21% of SNAP enrollees worked at least 35 hours a week for 50 or less weeks a year.

Let’s break that down. By the numbers, as a reminder, there were 5,637 SNAP recipients in Clinton County for 2022. Napkin math suggests that 4,059 of those people are working and are still on SNAP. 2,875 of that number are likely working a traditional, full-time job.

Those aren’t freeloaders. Those are hard-working residents.

And, of course, a large amount of the remaining 1,600-odd recipients are elderly or disabled — people who, by society’s cultural standards, we are pretty okay with supporting regardless of our political views.

You can draw whatever conclusion you want from that information. Many on the left will say that these corporations are not paying adequate wages, and that we should not be subsidizing these corporations with our tax dollars. Many on the right will say that these workers should find better jobs, or that they should work multiple jobs. The truth is likely somewhere in the middle, as it often is.

Either way, the numbers show that preconceived talking points exist in a space of comfort and maniuplation, and not in a place of actual hunger or need. The vast majority of Clinton County’s SNAP benefits go to people who should be considered deserving, and we should all do what we can manage to help keep them afloat as they — ordinary citizens — are weaponized as a government poker chip.

This brings us to our second point, of two.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the data is wrong or manipulated somehow, and most of those beneficiaries are actually illicit or fraudulent.

There is still no world where that is the case for all of them — and that means that the government is denying food to people who do, in fact, need the assistance.

How many people going hungry is acceptable?

To us, the answer is zero.

And, according to 2023 USDA data, 13.5% of American households, or 18 million, were already food insecure at some point, with 6.8 million of those experiencing “very low” food security, characterized by substantially disrupted eating habits.

This was a problem while SNAP was funded fully.

With SNAP lapsing, it is going to get far worse.

People will have a variety of responses to this. Some will hold their noses and say that it isn’t their problem — that those who will go hungry have messed up somewhere or made bad choices.

That attitude is monstrous and callous, and those people are in need of self-reflection.

Others will do whatever they can in their limited power to organize and help their neighbors, because it is the right thing to do.

We stand with them.

If you can make it to Avenue 209 this evening, we encourage you to do so. Make a difference.