With the federal government committing to funding only half of this month’s SNAP benefits, states across the country are trying to pick a path forward with less federal food assistance funding on the table.
Massachusetts is home to at least a million people who rely on SNAP, with many in the state’s Gateway cities. However, as Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester State Senator Jo Comerford tells WAMC, food insecurity is just as present in one of the Commonwealth's most rural corners.
She spoke with WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief James Paleologopoulos about the challenges her district faces, the work of a special response team devoted to dealing with federal headwinds and what the state is doing in the face of the government shutdown and SNAP funding reductions.
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This piece originally aired on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025
