‘A man-made disaster:’ Raleigh food bank braces for government shutdown fallout.
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Inter-Faith Food Shuttle braces for extended demand amid federal shutdown
- SNAP and WIC funded through October; November benefits face funding uncertainty
- Pantries face rising need as layoffs and tariff-driven supply cuts reduce donations
Ron Pringle is treating the government shutdown like an impending hurricane.
“We have to look at it just like it’s a natural disaster,” he said. “I’ve gone through several hurricanes and floods. ... And just because this is not an act of nature, it’s still a disaster even if it’s man-made.”
The government will reopen, said Pringle, the CEO and president of Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, but it will be a long recovery process for people who had gaps in pay or services.
“Just because the sun comes back out doesn’t mean the storm is over for that person,” Pringle said. “They have a long recovery process, and so that’s what we are trying to prepare for, that we can sustain through the storm so that we can be available for the long-term recovery process.”
As the federal shutdown continues into its third week, some are raising alarm about what happens if federal food programs don’t get funding.
There is enough federal funding to continue food programs — specifically the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) programs — through October.
But funding for November isn’t certain, leaving many families to rely on food pantries and other nonprofits.
About 700,000 households in North Carolina receive food benefits, The News & Observer previously reported.
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle provides food through a variety of programs, all focused on food, across seven counties.
U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, a Wake County Democrat , convened a roundtable with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle staff members Wednesday to highlight the shutdown’s effect on food banks and food pantries.
“Let’s be clear, this is a complete abdication of responsibility from our Republican Congress and our president,” Ross said. “It’s cruelty. It’s hitting people in the place that makes them feel the least secure: the ability to get the nutrition that they need at the times that they need it.”
Some individuals are already starting to visit food pantries, Pringle said. Ross said she was aware of one food drive already for airport employees who have to continue working without pay through the shutdown.
“People are trying to stock up and prepare for what’s coming or what lies ahead,” he said. “And that’s what we are seeing. They’re not going to be able to go to the grocery store to get those basic needs and those basic items.”
“I think we’re going to see people moving into survival mode, and that’s what frightens me,” he said. “Because then I start to worry about the safety of our community.”
The federal shutdown is the latest in a string of challenges food nonprofits have faced since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. Food pantries have seen increased demand after federal layoffs and federal grants were canceled, and funding that helped pantries to buy food from farmers was cut earlier this year.
Tariffs and the increased cost of food has caused grocery stories to cut back on how much they donate to food pantries, said Kimberly Burrows, chief development officer for Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.
“It’s the overstock that they have and what’s great about it is they get fresh produce,” she said. “We can sometimes have meat and eggs and dairy, but because of the tariffs the grocery stores also don’t have that margin, so they don’t have as much to donate. So what we’re picking up from our stores is less overall, but there is more need.”
Some of that need is coming from former donors of the nonprofit, Pringle said.
“These are people who contributed for years, even monthly donors, because that’s what they were able to do when they were in a position to do that,: he explained, “And because of how things have shifted and cuts are being made, those individuals are finding themselves in the space for the first time, and it’s a position that they never thought they would be in.”
Ross said she met a woman who was fired from her job as a scientific writer because of the federal cuts in research and science. Her salary was over $100,000, and now she is going to a food bank for her family, she said.
“There’s a myth out there that the people who come to food banks don’t work, and that is a total myth,” Burrows said. “The majority of the people who have to come to our food bank, they work full-time. Some of them work two jobs.
“It’s low paying jobs, high cost of housing and they have to make a decision: Do I keep the lights on or do I feed my child?”
This story was updated Oct. 24, 2025, to correct the title of U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross.
This story was originally published October 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM.
CORRECTION: A story about the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle that ran on page 1A Friday should have said Deborah Ross is a U.S. representative.
