Always Ready: How Fair Food Network Showed Up During the Shutdown

At Fair Food Network, we believe that when you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.

This work is personal. Our nonprofit started with Double Up Food Bucks—a program that matches Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits spent on fruits and vegetables to help families bring home more healthy food, support local farmers, and keep dollars flowing in local food businesses and economies. It’s a triple win that builds stronger communities. And it all depends on a strong SNAP program.

When the recent federal government shutdown disrupted SNAP disbursements, our communities were left with uncertainty, fear, and a critical gap. We didn’t wait, we activated.

Because we’ve worked over the years to build resilient systems, trusted relationships, and a culture of readiness, we — alongside our many partners — were able to respond quickly and meaningfully when our community needed us most.

In Michigan, we infused $2 million into communities through Double Up Bonus Bucks, an added offering for Double Up participants that delivered immediate support. It meant an extra $40 to spend on fresh and frozen vegetables that didn’t depend on a match with SNAP. We also made key changes to our Double Up Food Bucks program itself to support families during this critical moment – removing the daily earning cap, lifting expiration dates on earnings, and expanding eligibility of frozen fruits and vegetables as part of the program. These changes made the program easier to use, more flexible, and better equipped to help families bridge the unexpected gap.

And thanks to a strong partnership with the Michigan Department of Rural & Agricultural Development (MDARD), and the generous support of contributors to our Resilience Fund, including W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Marguerite Casey Foundation, we were able to move swiftly on the funding side,  shifting a portion of 2025 appropriations into an emergency fund so we could act in real time.

The impact was real and emotional, “Dozens of SNAP customers were coming in worried, scared and concerned about not having access to healthy food,” said Royal Oak Farmers Market Manager, Shelly Mazur. “Many of them sounded desperate and were in tears. Many had already exhausted the funds on the [Bridge] card , so they were very happy about the Bonus Bucks.”

Our work has always been about more than just food. It’s about designing systems that can hold people through disruption. “The system may change, but our commitment doesn’t. This is why we plan, build trust, and stay close to our partners and community — so we’re ready to meet the moment when it comes,” said Double Up Food Bucks Michigan Director, Rachel Hoh.

Even temporary gaps in SNAP ripple across entire communities. “A shopper was in tears saying how much this meant to her that she doesn’t need to stress about money for food…. She talked about spending the Double Up on fruit trees in the spring to work toward food sovereignty for her family,” said Nicole Morba, Food Access Manager at Detroit’s Eastern Market.

Programs like Double Up Food Bucks do more than stretch food dollars; they strengthen local economies, support farmers, and keep healthy food moving across Michigan.

“The shutdown was just another reminder of why resilient food systems matter,” said Fair Food Network Policy Director, Alex Canepa. “We don’t wait to respond — we design for disruption. That’s what being a trusted partner means to us.”

Our readiness isn’t a coincidence. It’s the result of nearly two decades of hands-on work, statewide and nationwide collaboration, and working side by side with families, farmers, food retailers, and policymakers—building infrastructure that can stand up to crisis and serve communities every day.

At Fair Food Network, we’re not just running programs, and this isn’t just an emergency response: It’s the power of infrastructure built to last.