WNC -- August 9, 2026:Western North Carolina food pantries are serving substantially more people than they were just a few years ago, while changes to federal food programs and SNAP are reshaping the assistance available to low-income families.
There is no single reason for the increase.
Hurricane Helene disrupted jobs, housing and household finances across the mountains. Emergency federal food assistance helped during the immediate aftermath, but those disaster programs were temporary. Since then, other federal food support has changed, North Carolina experienced an interruption in longstanding food-bank funding during a state budget impasse, and new federal SNAP requirements have begun affecting recipients.
Together, those developments help explain how Western North Carolina reached this point — and why pressure on local food pantries may continue.
Food Pantry Demand Has Climbed
MANNA FoodBank serves 16 Western North Carolina counties and the Qualla Boundary through a network of local food pantries and community organizations.
MANNA reports that its network is now seeing more than 220,000 pantry visits per month, compared with approximately 158,000 per month in 2023.
At the same time, MANNA says food support from federal sources, retailers, community partners, individuals and food drives has declined by 24% over the past two years, representing more than 3.3 million pounds of food.
The numbers do not mean government policy alone caused the increase. Housing costs, employment, inflation and individual circumstances all contribute to food insecurity.
In Western North Carolina, however, another major event changed the economic landscape.
Helene Put Thousands of WNC Households Under Additional Pressure
When Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina in September 2024, the federal government activated the emergency food-assistance programs normally used following major disasters.
Disaster SNAP, known as D-SNAP, was approved for 25 Western North Carolina counties and qualifying members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
North Carolina estimated that more than 150,000 people could receive as much as $120 million in disaster food benefits.
Existing SNAP recipients also received replacement benefits for food lost during prolonged power outages, restrictions were temporarily relaxed to allow the purchase of hot prepared foods, and USDA authorized direct distribution of federal food.
But emergency disaster assistance is temporary.
Western North Carolina's recovery was not.
Families continued dealing with damaged homes, disrupted employment, housing shortages, transportation problems and rebuilding expenses long after emergency food benefits ended.
That left many households entering the next round of changes already under financial pressure.
Then Other Federal Food Support Declined
Federal assistance to food banks also changed.
A USDA program had provided money to states to purchase food from local farmers and distribute it through food banks, schools and other organizations.
Feeding the Carolinas reports that approximately $30 million in federal funding used in North Carolina to purchase locally produced food was lost when those programs ended or were discontinued.
Other federal food programs continue. The federal government did not stop supporting food banks.
But one significant source of food disappeared while demand remained high.
North Carolina's Food-Bank Funding Was Interrupted Too
At roughly the same time, North Carolina's longstanding support for food banks encountered a different problem.
For approximately 30 years, the state had provided funding supporting its food-bank network and purchases from North Carolina farmers.
During the 2025 budget cycle, approximately $9.1 million in expected food-bank funding went unrenewed.
The reason matters.
The Republican-controlled North Carolina House and Senate failed to reach agreement on a comprehensive state budget. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein repeatedly urged lawmakers to resolve the budget impasse and send him a budget.
Without the required legislative appropriation, the longstanding food-bank funding was not renewed — the first such interruption in roughly three decades.
That situation has since changed.
In July 2026, North Carolina restored more than $9 million for the state's seven major food banks, including money intended to purchase North Carolina agricultural products.
That is good news for the food-bank system.
But another change may have a much broader impact on individual households.
Federal SNAP Rules Are Becoming More Restrictive for Some Recipients
SNAP already had work requirements.
The federal legislation signed into law on July 4, 2025 did something more significant: it expanded who must satisfy additional work requirements and narrowed some exemptions.
North Carolina had to begin mplementing the expanded requirements on Dec. 1, 2025.
For many affected adults, maintaining SNAP beyond the applicable time limit requires working, volunteering or participating in an approved program for at least 80 hours per month, unless an exemption applies.
Three changes are particularly relevant in Western North Carolina.
Older Working-Age Adults Are Affected
The additional SNAP work requirements now extend through age 64.
That means some adults in their late 50s and early 60s who previously were outside the affected age range can now be required to work, volunteer or participate in an approved activity for at least 80 hours per month to maintain benefits beyond the applicable time limit.
Being 60, 61, 62, 63 or 64 no longer automatically places someone outside the additional work requirement.
However, exemptions remain. People medically certified as physically or mentally unable to work may qualify, and North Carolina guidance identifies additional circumstances under which people ages 55 to 64 facing significant barriers to employment may qualify for an exemption. Eligibility is determined based on the individual's circumstances.
Parents of Teenagers Are Affected
The federal law also narrowed the exemption for adults responsible for children.
Previously, responsibility for a dependent child under 18 could provide an exemption from the additional SNAP work requirement. The new federal law lowered that threshold to responsibility for a child under 14.
As a result, a parent responsible for a 14-, 15-, 16- or 17-year-old may now be subject to the additional work requirement even though the same household previously qualified for an exemption.
There are important exceptions. North Carolina says a parent who is actively homeschooling a child for 30 or more hours per week may qualify for an exemption. Other exemptions may also apply depending on the parent's health, caregiving responsibilities or individual circumstances.
The change therefore does not mean every parent of a teenager must meet the 80-hour requirement. It means having responsibility for a child age 14 or older, by itself, no longer provides the exemption that previously extended until the child turned 18.
Rural residents face another challenge.
Western North Carolina includes communities where employment may be many miles away and public transportation is limited or nonexistent.
Lack of transportation, inability to afford gasoline or distance from available employment are not, by themselves, automatic exemptions from the federal requirement.
Congress also restricted an important tool states previously had.
States had been able to seek temporary waivers from the SNAP time limit for qualifying areas experiencing high unemployment or an insufficient number of jobs.
The new federal law eliminated an insufficient number of jobs as a basis for those geographic waivers in the contiguous United States.
That could be particularly significant in rural communities.
In practical terms, a person can still be poor enough to qualify financially for SNAP but lose benefits because he or she cannot satisfy the additional work requirements and does not qualify for an exemption.
That is where SNAP policy begins affecting local food pantries.
Losing SNAP Doesn't Eliminate the Need for Food
A person who loses SNAP still has to eat.
Some affected recipients will find work or meet the required hours. Others will qualify for exemptions. Some households will find assistance from relatives or other sources.
Others may turn to churches, community organizations and food pantries.
Food banks, however, operate on a much smaller scale than SNAP and were never designed to replace the federal program.
There is not enough evidence to say how much of MANNA's current increase in pantry visits was caused specifically by the new SNAP rules. The increase involves Helene, economic conditions and several overlapping changes.
But as more households move through SNAP recertification, the effects of the new requirements are still unfolding.
The Federal Government Is Also Shifting More SNAP Costs to States
Another major change is approaching.
Beginning Oct. 1, 2026, the federal government's share of SNAP administrative expenses falls from 50% to 25%, leaving states responsible for 75%.
Documents presented to the North Carolina General Assembly estimate the change could mean approximately $16 million in additional annual state costs and $69 million in additional costs for North Carolina counties.
That matters because county social-services departments perform much of the work required to administer SNAP locally.
Federal law also creates the possibility that states eventually will have to contribute toward SNAP benefit costs themselves, depending partly on payment error rates.
So the federal changes are occurring on two fronts: some recipients face more restrictive eligibility requirements while state and local governments are being asked to assume more of the program's cost.
Western North Carolina is still recovering from Helene. A significant federal source for purchasing locally produced food has disappeared. Expanded SNAP requirements are continuing to reach households as they recertify. And state and county governments are preparing to assume greater SNAP administrative expenses.
Meanwhile, MANNA's network is recording more than 220,000 pantry visits per month.
No single government decision created that situation.
Western North Carolina arrived here through a series of events: a historic hurricane, the expiration of emergency disaster assistance, reductions in some federal food support, a state budget impasse and major changes to federal SNAP policy.
What changed afterward is equally important.
Emergency assistance expired while recovery continued. A significant source of federal food-bank support disappeared. State food-bank funding was temporarily interrupted.. And federal SNAP policy became more restrictive for some older adults, parents and rural residents.
Now the direction bears watching.
As more households encounter the new SNAP rules during recertification, Western North Carolina will begin seeing their full effect. If fewer financially eligible households are able to maintain SNAP benefits, some of that unmet need is likely to reach local food pantries.
At the same time, restored state funding should put additional food back into North Carolina's charitable food network.
The question for the coming months is whether those resources will be enough to offset the continuing demand — or whether more Western North Carolina families will find themselves turning to local food pantries for help.
Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service; North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services; North Carolina General Assembly; North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; MANNA FoodBank; Feeding the Carolinas; Office of Gov. Josh Stein.