A Message from Rural Coalition

October 30, 2025

Greetings Farmers, Ranchers, Members, and Allies, 

On September 30, over 150,000 federal employees who took the Fork in the Road buyout left federal employment. The same day, the federal government shut down, and thousands more federal employees were furloughed without pay. Thousands more federal contractors, including facilities and food service workers across the nation, are now out of work.

Starting this Saturday, November 1, 2025, funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will stop flowing to states due to the ongoing government shutdown. USDA stated publicly that it will not fund SNAP without Congressional approval. 

SNAP serves as a vital safety net for nearly 42 million people each month in states red and blue, and in communities rural and urban. In 2023, 4 in 5 households receiving SNAP benefits included children, veterans, and/or individuals who are elderly or with disabilities. 

Proportionally, farmers and rural communities also rely more heavily on SNAP than their urban counterparts to keep food on their tables, support local economies, and help small businesses survive.

We call on all our Rural Coalition members to take action today:

First, take steps to fill the food gap in your community including:

1. If you plan to celebrate Halloween, please put out nutritious snacks (in addition to or in place of sweets). Put some bags out and invite parents to take what they need. Ask your neighbors to do the same. 
2. Find other ways to fill food gaps in your neighborhood- fill little libraries and community fridges with food this week, have meals at churches, donate to food banks, and more.

Second, call the US House of Representatives at (202)225-3131:

1. Demand that USDA keep SNAP fully operational during the shut down.
2. Call for the full House of Representatives to get back to work, reopen the government, and restore funds cut from SNAP and the Affordable Care Act.

We also ask our members to use your own personal social media to share ideas and call for action. If you are willing to do so, complete this form so we can follow you and share your posts.

Finally, please join us for the following calls this week, where we will offer more resources and information on the impacts of the current shut down on small and family farms. 

Thank you all for the difference you can make in your communities.

Cooperatively yours,

The Board & Staff of the Rural Coalition

Join us on November 4th for a comprehensive knowledge-sharing session on what the government shutdown means for small farms & ranches, consumers, and regional food retailers, and tips on what you can do to keep your agricultural business in good standing.

This session will be facilitated in English, with simultaneous interpretation in Spanish.

Únase a nosotros el 4 de noviembre para una sesión informativa completa sobre las consecuencias del cierre del gobierno para las pequeñas granjas y ranchos, los consumidores y los minoristas de alimentos regionales, y consejos sobre lo que puede hacer para mantener su negocio agrícola en buen estado.

Esta sesión se llevará a cabo en inglés, con interpretación simultánea al español.