FILE PHOTO: Shelves filled with fresh produce, bread loaves and assorted pastries are stocked for students at the Buff Pantry in the UMC basement on Feb. 25, 2025. (Hayden Chedid/ CU Independent)
About 600,000 Coloradans received their Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits for the month of November on the 20th. The Trump administration completely halted the program on Nov. 1, resulting in a decline in food access across the nation, including university students struggling to make ends meet.
In late October, the Trump administration announced that the USDA would not be using contingency funds to provide nutritional assistance. After several states sued, the federal government conceded to granting partial benefits. For some, those benefits ended up being very little.
“Usually, I get around 200 dollars. This month I got 11,” said Caleb Cullen, a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder. Cullen and his wife are supporting their two-year-old son.
“It’s like trying to find that balance of what’s the most important thing to pay for. And ultimately, it always comes down to making sure the child is fed,” Cullen said.
Despite having to make tough decisions, he considers himself lucky.
“I haven’t had to go to any food banks or anything because the community around me has helped support us,” he said.
The Buff Pantry, CU Boulder’s food bank for students, expanded to accommodate a larger population during the program freeze.
“We changed up some of our policies around our pantry. Students get one appointment a week, so any student who identified with SNAP was able to have a second appointment,” Eldred Foster said. Foster is the associate director of the Basic Needs Center, of which Buff Pantry is a branch.
Foster said that, though it wasn’t long enough to know for certain if more students were using the pantry as a result of the month-long SNAP cut, the Student Emergency Fund has seen a significant amount of new applications. The SEF is a stipend to support students during “unanticipated events that might cause you to pause or stop your educational goals.”
Many in the CU Boulder community are relieved to soon be receiving their full benefits.
“I mean, we didn’t know if it was gonna be months. I’m just happy, I’m excited about going to the grocery store,” Neva Wildes, a sophomore at CU Boulder, said.
However, for some, the relief is overshadowed by dissatisfaction about other circumstances of the shutdown.
“Though my personal situation is kind of rough, I kind of wanted the shutdown to keep going until we got Affordable Care Act extensions or something more,” Cullen said.
Foster says that though people will soon receive their SNAP benefits, November’s cuts should be a reminder of the prevalence of food insecurity in the Boulder area. He suggests that any community members who want to get involved should volunteer with the Buff Pantry and make food or personal care donations as described on its website.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Savannah Behr at savannah.behr@colorado.edu
