MOFC, Local Pantries Urge Senators to Protect SNAP in Reconciliation

Federal funding bill would harm Ohio families,
communities and economy

GROVE CITY, Ohio — Representatives of central and eastern Ohio’s hunger relief network gathered at Mid-Ohio Food Collective’s (MOFC) headquarters to call on Ohio’s U.S. Senators to halt record cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The proposed federal budget reconciliation bill being considered by the Senate would be the largest cuts to SNAP in U.S. history (nearly $300 billion over 10 years).

“Food banks and pantries carried the country through COVID. Since then, we’ve set a new service record every year. But food banking has its limits. We can’t do the impossible,” said MOFC President and CEO Matt Habash. “SNAP helps more than we ever have or ever could. If these cuts are passed and this bill is made law, the meals missing from people’s dinner tables would be more than our network could possibly provide.”

Speaking in Grove City before a crowd of food bank employees, volunteers, pantry managers, and customers, Habash and other hunger relief leaders called on Sens. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) to remove drastic SNAP cuts from the bill. Other speakers included Michael Young, Pastor, City of Grace Church and MOFC Board member; Mardi Ciriaco, Vice President of Community Services, Gladden Food Pantry; Jamie Trout, Executive Director, Eastside Community Ministry Pantry in Zanesville; and Joree Novotny, Executive Director, Ohio Association of Foodbanks.

The proposed bill would shift massive SNAP costs to states. To maintain current benefits for Ohioans, the state would have to pay an additional $473 million per year. In addition to cutting SNAP benefits for low-income families, the bill would require seniors to work until age 64 to receive SNAP and add red-tape requirements for working parents with children over the age of 7.

About one in eight Ohioans, roughly 1.5 million Ohio residents, received SNAP benefits in May 2025. As of 2022, more than half the people receiving SNAP in Ohio were children or seniors. For every meal food banks and affiliated pantries can provide, SNAP can provide up to nine meals, according to Feeding America. SNAP purchases support thousands of Ohio jobs and hundreds of rural, local grocery stores. SNAP also adds more than $20 billion in wages to the economy, according to the National Grocers Association.

The proposed SNAP cuts come at a time when demand for direct food assistance is already rising. Last year, hungry Ohioans in MOFC’s 20-county service area visited local pantries 1.84 million times—an all-time record in the organization’s 45-year history. MOFC is also asking supporters to join them in asking Ohio’s Senators to #ProtectSNAP at www.mofc.org/protectsnap.

“To Senators Husted and Moreno, our valued partners in the fight against hunger, we know you want the best for Ohio. Now is the time to do the right thing,” Habash said. “Change this bill. Protect SNAP for our kids, seniors and working families.”

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About Mid-Ohio Food Collective
Mid-Ohio Food Collective (MOFC) is the largest hunger relief organization in central and eastern Ohio. Through our five assets (the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, Mid-Ohio Farm, Mid-Ohio Farmacy, Mid-Ohio Kitchen, and Mid-Ohio Market), MOFC addresses the root causes of hunger while working with more than 600 partner agencies in 20 counties to feed hundreds of thousands of hungry Ohioans every year. Learn how we’re co-creating hunger-free, healthier communities at www.mofc.org.