Around 600,000 Coloradans who rely on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) will have to find other ways to put food on the table this month. About half of those affected are children.

At the request of the Governor’s office, Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee has approved up to 7.5 million dollars for WIC – a food program for mothers with infants. This same committee also unanimously approved taking $10 million from Colorado’s general fund. Those funds will be used to increase the amount of food available through food banks while SNAP benefits are suspended this November.

What? That’s like paying 1/10th of your rent for November. Where’s the rest of the money?

Rep. Emily Sirota of Denver said she wondered how Gov. Jared Polis produced the $10 million figure. Members of the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee also questioned why the governor only asked for $10 million, because funding SNAP is $120 million – a month.

Representative Barbara Kirkmeyer from Weld County said, “It’s not a statewide solution. We have no guarantee where it’s getting to. We know it’s not even close to the amount of dollars that are needed to provide the food that will be needed for food security”.

In a story by a National Public Radio affiliate, Tom Dermody, the state’s Chief Legislative Budget & Policy Analyst said, “It is effectively us trying to plow a field with a fork. The scale of this particular emergency vastly outstrips any ability for the state to mitigate it in any truly meaningful way.”

Colorado politicians sound fearful.

But the good news is that this $10 million dollar allocation may be amplified by the bulk purchasing power of food banks like Feeding America. This allocation has the potential to generate around $50 million dollars in retail value for the food actually being distributed.

Hopefully, that materializes.

According to the Governor’s website, the emergency funding will go to the non-profit food bank network, Feeding Colorado. They will receive a grant administered by the Trailhead Institute – also a non-profit, not a government agency.

As reported by KRDO in Colorado Springs, Governor Polis gave advice to SNAP users at a recent press conference, “Check with your local pantry or food bank. Some might up the limit on what you’re allowed to take on a visit. One might say, ‘Oh, we’re normally a once-a-month, but because there’s no SNAP benefits, we’re letting you come twice this month.”

Basically, Governor Polis is saying – “Go to the community.” And he is right.

The most vulnerable Coloradans are caught in a political fight where they can’t win. I agree with our state government bowing out of the political issues they contributed to.

It could be time to reconsider SNAP completely.

The origins of SNAP date back to the Great Depression. In 1939, farmers were producing more than enough food but the average American couldn’t afford it. Hmmm – sounds like Colorado today.

The poor relied on soup or breadlines run by churches and civic organizations in the community. That sounds like Colorado today as well.

In the midst of this crisis, the government proposed distributing surplus food to the poor while also paying farmers a “fair price” for what they produced. History shows the farmers (and the government) benefited far more than the poor from the program.

But we continued SNAP anyway. Today retailers and government benefit far more than the poor with this program.

Calm down. I’m not against feeding people in need. Nor is our state government as long as it is community footing the bill. The press release on the Governor’s Office website doesn’t mince words.

“While canned goods are welcome, financial donations go further, with every dollar helping food banks purchase and distribute more meals statewide. Donations can be made at FeedingColorado.org/donate.”

So, let’s just do it. Through more community connection, donating, and volunteering Coloradans may discover we have more power than we realize. Perhaps we need to create something new with non-profit organizations in the lead instead of the government.

And just a note… citizens have no reason to believe that this issue will end this month. We may also be called upon to feed the needy in December. Get ready.