“I hope this is going to be enough,” said the coordinator at Silver Lake Community Church food pantry, wiping her forehead as she chopped off bad ends of donated celery. Every Wednesday morning for the past year, I, along with a dozen or so other volunteers, sort and pack donated food for about 150 families.

But a few months ago, the food pantry started ordering enough food to feed 175 households a week. This week we ordered enough for 200 families. Higher numbers are our new normal. The people who come to us are facing challenges not just from the federal shutdown but also from widespread layoffs .

Now, as SNAP benefits run out during the shutdown , we worry that there won’t be enough food to feed everyone who lines up. And that should scare all of us.

Across the nation, 1 in 7 pe

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