SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Acorn squash, Spam and baby food lined the shelves on a recent day at a college food pantry in California's capital city, a resource that students receiving federal aid to purchase groceries may have to increasingly rely on because that assistance has been in limbo during the government shutdown.

Hundreds of students at California State University, Sacramento, or Sac State, visit the school's Basic Needs Resource Center every week, where they can select up to a dozen items per trip — ranging from fresh produce and meat to toiletries and secondhand clothes.

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“It’s a big blessing,” said Antonette Duff, a junior studying psychology at the university who’s enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , formerly known as food s

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