NEW YORK (AP) — Your neighbors might soon need extra assistance putting food on the table.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture planned on Nov. 1 to begin freezing food aid payments used by about 1 in 8 Americans for groceries. A cornerstone of the nation’s social safety net, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was said to be out of funds as the government shutdown entered its second month.

Though two federal judges ruled simultaneously on Friday that the program must be kept going with contingency money, some experts estimate that even a one-month pause would plunge nearly 3 million low-income recipients into poverty. The charitable food system, already strained by the rising cost of living and Trump administration aid cuts, has braced all week for an overwhelming surge from the

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