CINCINNATI — As SNAP enrollment falls across Ohio, Cincinnati-area food pantries and hunger-relief organizations say more people are turning to them for help, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
SNAP enrollment in Ohio fell by 107,573 people between July 2025 and May 2026, including more than 50,000 children, according to Ohio Poverty Law Center figures reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides food benefits to low-income households to help buy groceries.
Last Mile Food Rescue, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit that collects and delivers surplus food to food banks and pantries, has completed about 21,000 food rescues so far this year, with its weekly volume up roughly 30 percent since January, according to a news release reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. The organization is seeking additional volunteers heading into the holiday season.
“We’re definitely seeing a sharp increase in demand,” Deni Robey, Last Mile’s director of communications, told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “We’re trying to do what we can to meet the increased demand because quite a lot of people are losing [SNAP] benefits.”
The decline follows the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is projected to reduce federal spending on SNAP by as much as $295 billion over 10 years, according to The Commonwealth Fund figures reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. The law expands work requirements for certain adults — for able-bodied adults without dependents, the requirement now covers ages 18 to 64, up from a cap of 54 — and eliminates some exemptions previously available to veterans and other groups, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Adults 65 and older generally remain exempt.
Providers say older adults are among those showing up more often. “We are seeing an increase in what’s considered the senior population who may not be able to meet those work requirements” for SNAP, Kam McKenzie of Freestore Foodbank told the Cincinnati Enquirer. Freestore, the largest emergency food provider in Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana, now serves about 12,000 people a month across its 20-county area — up roughly 14 percent from July 2025 — and McKenzie told the Cincinnati Enquirer lines frequently stretch to the doors.
City government is being asked to help. Cincinnati City Council member Anna Albi has asked Council to provide $100,000 each to The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and La Soupe, citing growing food insecurity, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “With an almost 10% decline in families on SNAP across Ohio, more residents are turning to charitable pantries to meet their needs,” Albi said in her proposal, reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer. She noted St. Vincent’s West End pantry recently recorded its highest-ever single day of service, and that supplies that once lasted a week are now depleted in four days.
Freestore Foodbank told the Cincinnati Enquirer it expects holiday demand to rise but already has systems in place for the seasonal surge. What happens next for families is twofold: Council’s decision on Albi’s funding request, and whether pantry volunteer and donation levels can keep pace with the holiday season.