NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — More than 121,000 Middle Tennessee families rely on SNAP benefits to help put food on the table.
Following a USDA announcement that benefits won’t go out next month, families like Hailey Privette’s are bracing for what could be one of their toughest months yet.
Privette lives in Mount Juliet with seven other family members — her three young children, her grandparents, Phyllis Flatt and her husband, and her two teenage siblings.
She said they were already barely making it before hearing the news that their food assistance would be suspended.
Even when she sticks to store brands, she said the prices add up quickly
“For pasta and stuff like that, Walmart is cheaper,” she said. “Their Great Value meat a lot of times is better.”
Privette receives a little under $1,000 a month in SNAP benefits to help feed everyone under her roof. But that money doesn’t stretch far when she’s trying to feed eight people.
“We don’t really have enough to go around as is,” she said. “We really struggle just to make it.”
Phyllis Flatt, 66, requires a caregiver — and that’s the role Privette fills.
Flatt has battled serious health issues, including a heart attack, four strokes, and now cancer. “It’s been hard on them to have to take care of me and for her to take care of her kids,” Flatt said.
That leaves Privette’s grandfather as the only one working full-time to cover the household bills, which makes losing SNAP benefits next month especially concerning. “If I don’t feed everybody, if we don’t get the benefits we need, it makes it harder for us to pay our bills,” Privette said.
Flatt worries about what will happen when the benefits stop, knowing many families may face hunger.
“I have to have something to eat, but I’d rather feed the kids than me,” she said.
As November approaches, the family said the holidays don’t feel hopeful. “I don’t see the holidays being that good at all,” Flatt said. “If we don’t have that, we’re not going to have a holiday — or a slim one, I should say.”
Privette said she’ll try to stretch what’s left of her October benefits as far as possible and plans to lean on food banks for help. But she hopes Congress and the USDA will act before it’s too late. “Pull your pants up and do something,” Privette said. “It’s time we start thinking about everybody as a whole and stop dividing everything by politics — because that’s the only reason this is happening right now.”
25 states, including Kentucky, are suing the Trump administration over the suspension of food stamp benefits. The states want the U.S. Department of Agriculture to tap into $5 billion in contingency funds to keep assistance flowing for families.
This story was reported by reporter Aaron Cantrell and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Aaron and our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy
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