Feeding folks amid loss of SNAP benefits
Avi Leibson estimates the cost of the ingredients for the big pot of chicken soup he made in his Falafel Love kitchen, aside from the few unsold roasted chicken quarters from the day’s special, at around $10. He added potatoes, sweet potatoes, croutons made from the day’s leftover pita and the barley pearls he considers a comfort food, and set it to simmer. Normally the extras might go home with the staff or to some neighbors in King Salmon.
Instead, like a few other local restaurant owners, he offered it to anyone whose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were cut off Nov. 1 amid the government shutdown (now set to be reinstated but delayed and reduced). It is not, he notes, a solution to what he sees as the most vulnerable people once again being crushed in the middle of a conflict. It’s not even particularly noble, he says, but it’s something he can do.
“I’m literally a drop in the soup pot. I know by making this soup I’m not gonna alleviate hunger, says Leibson. “I know I can do more but I have to start somewhere.”
Even after the Trump administration’s refusal to use contingency funds to fulfill SNAP payments during the shutdown was declared illegal in federal court, distribution of the funds have been reduced and delayed. The administration maintains there are only $4.65 billion available from the Department of Agriculture’s contingency fund to cover the SNAP program’s monthly cost of $8 billion. As the Journal went to press, it was still unclear when and how much the 42 million people nationally who count on the funds could count on. That includes some 30,000 low-income residents of Humboldt County, many of them children and the elderly.
Leibson says he’d seen his friends Steve and Rebecca Band, owners of Frankie’s NY Bagels, regularly donating unsold bagels to the food bank and wanted to do his part, despite being a smaller operation. “What I can do is, like, friggin’ make a soup.”
Before opening Falafel Love, he says, he’d done some work with Food Not Bombs, a volunteer operation with groups that feed people for free weekly in Arcata and Eureka. “As somebody who used to do outreach to the most vulnerable,” he says, community members who use SNAP to put food on the table are “the most vulnerable.”
Before extending the offer of free soup on social media, Leibson hesitated, considering the somewhat out of the way location of his restaurant and the number of people who’d actually take him up on it. “Am I just virtue signaling?” he asked himself, knowing it might appear a cynical publicity stunt. “But then I was like, ‘You know what? Fuck it.’”
Thus far, he has only given out 14 bowls of soup, calling it “disproportionate” to the online likes and comments. But he hopes another business owner might be inspired as he was by the Bands, or someone might decide to feed a neighbor or donate to a food pantry. “Call me naïve, but I think if everybody was naïve about this stuff, I think we’d be better off.”
A few people have offered donations, but Leibson says the money is put to better use by organizations devoted to feeding folks, like Food for People. “It’s cool you wanna support me, but you should support the people who are actually doing the thing,” he says. “Food Not Bombs is feeding people today. … They’re dedicated to the mission.”
Asked what advice he’d give to someone who wants to offer a meal to a friend or neighbor, Leibson doesn’t offer a recipe. Instead, he says, “Don’t wait to be asked. If you have an inkling that there are some people forgoing food, skipping meals, it’s cool to assume when other times it wouldn’t be. Just leave a lasagna on their doorstep.” Something as simple as a bunch of bananas from Costco, he notes, can make a difference to someone and make you feel a little better about yourself. “I’m not the best person all the time,” he adds quietly.
He’s still ambivalent about the attention offering to feed people garners, including in relation to speaking to the Journal for this story. But he does want people to be aware of the food insecurity in our community — not only during the shutdown — and to know they can do something about it.
“These are human rights issues,” says Leibson. “We shouldn’t have people who aren’t healthfully nourished.”
Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the managing editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400 ext. 106 or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Bluesky @JFumikoCahill.
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