Video: Americans line up for free meals as shutdown threat sparks 'no food aid November' fears

A video purportedly shows Americans lining up for free meals as the US government shutdown continues, sparking fears of a “no food aid November” after several states warned that these benefits may not be distributed next month. The time-lapse video shows dozens of Americans standing in a winding line to collect free meal benefits, which was reportedly filmed in Landover, Maryland. Several social media users claimed the people in line were federal employees. While 700,000 federal workers are furloughed, nearly as many are working without pay as the U.S. government shutdown continues. Mint could not independently verify the claims of the video. Americans line up for free meals amid shutdown: Watch At least a dozen states — including Minnesota, California, Pennsylvania and Texas — have warned of a possible disruption in benefits for more than 41 million Americans who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, and nearly 7 million recipients of the Women, Infants and Children at Risk Program (WIC) the country as the shutdown continues. Minerva Delgado, director of coalitions and advocacy at the Alliance to End Hunger, said: “Families are going to be hurt by this if it continues, at a time when we know families are struggling to make ends meet.” Several of the roughly two dozen states that have issued warnings have listed earlier cutoff dates for food stamp distribution. Several social media users claimed that the people in line were federal employees. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, for example, says on its website that “SNAP benefits for November will not be issued if the federal government shutdown continues beyond October 27. Oregon said: “We encourage everyone who receives SNAP to familiarize themselves with the free food resources if they will not be doing a food plan in their community and not to make a food plan in their community. time.” Meanwhile, economists have claimed that a prolonged government shutdown in the United States could affect economic growth. Economists estimated that the shutdown shaved 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points off annualized inflation-adjusted gross domestic product growth per week. The hit from the shutdown, now in its third week, will be largely on consumer spending and lost federal worker productivity. “There will be an impact on the economy,” Reuters quoted Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, as saying. “It’s not going to push the economy into a recession, but the longer it goes on, the more permanent the losses are for Fed workers who may have had to cut back on spending because they weren’t paid or because essentially, while they’re expecting back pay, they’re just being more judicious with their finances.” Brian Bethune, a economics professor at Boston College, said the immediate impact includes halted food stamp distributions and underpayments, while the long-term consequences are harder to determine. “There are the short-term effects that are already playing out, and then there are the long-term effects that are more difficult to calibrate and will depend specifically on when and if they are resolved. But as it goes on, these short-term effects definitely accumulate.” (With Reuters input)