How will food stamp freeze affect Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools?

The pause in federal food assistance expected Saturday will not impact the availability of free and reduced-price meals in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the district says.

As the federal government shutdown drags on, the U.S. Department of Agriculture directed state agencies to hold off on distributing November’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, previously known as food stamps, “until further notice,” according to a letter dated Oct. 10. The USDA has so far declined to use its contingency fund, which currently holds $5 billion to $6 billion, to partially fund the SNAP program while the shutdown continues.

That means millions of Americans, including an estimated 1.4 million North Carolinians who rely on SNAP to afford groceries, will go without the federal food assistance. Mecklenburg County has around 143,000 SNAP recipients, the most of any county in the state, the Observer reported in July.

Around 580,000 of North Carolina’s SNAP recipients are children.

SNAP is the largest anti-hunger program in the country, mostly benefiting families with children, the elderly and those with disabilities. However, SNAP funding is separate from funding for school nutrition, so eligibility and availability of free meals at CMS schools will go uninterrupted, the district said, even though demand may increase.

“CMS anticipates that households affected may increasingly rely on school-provided meals,” a district spokesperson said in a statement to The Charlotte Observer. “This could result in higher student meal participation, which our School Nutrition Services team is prepared to support.”

Currently, 33,367 CMS students qualify for free meals based on SNAP participation, roughly 24% of the district’s total student population.

“We know if students are hungry that’s a barrier to learning,” CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed told the Observer. “We may very well see an increase in applications for free and reduced lunch… Families should look to our schools for support during these times.”

Who can get free lunch?

Schools with 25% or more students who automatically qualify for free lunch get money to provide all students with free lunches without parents having to fill out an application. This is called the “Community Eligibility Provision,” or CEP.

During the 2025-26 school year, 115 of the 186 CMS schools have free lunches for all students through the CEP, a district spokesperson told the Observer in August. CMS provides free breakfast for all students at all campuses — regardless of if a school qualifies under the CEP.

Students who qualify for SNAP benefits automatically qualify for free lunches, no matter what campus they attend. If they go to a non-CEP school, parents need to fill out an application.

In its statement to the Observer, the district encouraged families personally affected by the federal shutdown to complete the free or reduced lunch application.

Next year, cuts to the SNAP program will begin to take effect. They were outlined in the budget reconciliation bill President Donald Trump signed into law July 4 and include tighter guidelines for who qualifies for SNAP benefits, which could affect which schools are able to give free lunches to all students.

Food pantry impact

Dependence on local food pantries was already rising before the shutdown began.

Nourish Up, an organization that combats hunger in Mecklenburg County through food banks, grocery delivery and the meals on wheels program, served 164,000 people in 2024 alone. Over the last three years, the organization has seen a 115% increase in demand, Nourish Up CEO Tina Postel told The Observer in August.

In response to the expected SNAP freeze, NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson has joined a lawsuit with several other Democratic attorneys general against the Trump administration, calling for the USDA to release funding for November SNAP benefits.

Jackson said Tuesday that the USDA “has broken the law in a way that will create really severe consequences for a lot of vulnerable people,” The News and Observer reported.

This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM.