When hunger becomes a political weapon

There is a line between hard bargaining and cruelty. When a government begins to weaponize basic means of survival, it crosses into dangerous territory. The decision to withhold Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — paired with Congressional plans to slash Medicaid and food assistance — isn’t just another partisan fight. It’s a turning point.

For the first time in SNAP’s 60-year history, families aren’t receiving the benefits they depend on. For many, that means empty refrigerators, skipped meals, and trying to explain to their kids why they can’t buy more food. This is a conscious choice by the Trump administration, as Congress has already appropriated billions of dollars in a contingency fund to cover SNAP during government shutdowns.

My own family has relied on SNAP. When my oldest child was diagnosed with celiac disease at three years old, we stopped going to free meal programs because there was no way to know which foods were safe for her to eat.

A friend of mine is on a medical diet with strict parameters — restrictions that make free meal programs and food banks impossible to rely on. SNAP allows people to buy what they need for their own health and safety. Taking that away puts them in an impossible position.

As an only parent of children with such diets, I know what it feels like to wonder how long you can stretch what’s left in the cupboard. A federal judge has ordered that benefits not be withheld, but it’s unclear whether that order will be followed after the pattern of defiance we’ve seen.

History warns us where this path leads. The deliberate manipulation of food — withholding access, weaponizing distribution, engineering famine — is a recognized tactic of repression used by many autocratic regimes and the current genocide in Palestine.

This moment calls for more than outrage — it calls for organized, principled response. Protecting access to food and care shouldn’t be a partisan issue.

We have to be loud and clear: weaponizing hunger is unacceptable. Congress must ensure food and health benefits are treated as non-negotiable priorities — but we can’t wait for them to do the right thing. Right now, we have to do what’s necessary ourselves. Fill the little free pantries and community fridges — like the ones at the Wright House of Fashion and the Coralville Library. Make sure our local organizations — DVIP-RVAP, the Immigrant Welcome Network of Johnson County, and the Catholic Worker House — have enough to keep feeding everyone they shelter. Donate financially to the food banks that keep our community going- With their nonprofit status and bulk purchasing, they can stretch every penny farther than any of us can alone.

Do what you can to keep people fed.

And don’t let up on this administration. Call, write, and be incessant. Tell them to follow the court order, reinstate SNAP immediately, and stop using food and medical care as weapons in political fights. Because no matter where you stand politically, the measure of a government — and a community — is how we care for those who need us most.

Mandi Remington is the founding director of Corridor Community Action Network and a Johnson County supervisor.