As the Trump administration gets closer to cutting off SNAP food assistance, Ford School Professor Luke Shaefer has been commenting on the potential dire situation families will face around food security.
"You have to think of food in the context of all the other expenses that people have," said Shaefer told CBS Detroit.
He said the challenge isn't just getting food on the table. Other expenses, and especially unexpected ones, will hurt even more.
"Maybe they're going to shift some of the money they spend on rent to food. So for some families, it's going to show up as them falling behind on their rent. If it goes for a long time, I think we might see an increase in evictions," he said. "It's going to ripple through whole communities."
Shaefer also spoke with WLNS, saying that a pause could have broad effects.
“Families spend it at the grocery store and the grocery store hires more workers to do bagging and to do shelving those people then spend money,” he said. “And so the longer this goes on the more of a ripple effect we’re going to feel it in the local economy.”
Shaefer said families may shift money from other needs to food, increasing the risk of missed rent or mortgage payments and evictions.
Michigan experts warn of rise in food insecurity amid federal government shutdown, CBS Detroit, October 24, 2025
As SNAP pause looms, communities are rallying to help, WLNS, October 24, 2025
