Nearly 50,000 fewer Missourians are receiving food assistance than a year ago, even as St. Louis-area food pantries report growing demand.
Now, declining enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could have another consequence: putting pressure on federal funding that helps schools provide free meals.
Missouri had 613,127 SNAP recipients in June, down from 662,806 in July 2025, according to the Missouri Department of Social Services. That’s a decline of 49,679 people, or about 7.5%. Missouri Department of Social Services
The connection to school meals is particularly important in St. Louis.
Saint Louis Public Schools has participated in the federal Community Eligibility Provision since the 2014-15 school year. The program allows eligible schools serving high-poverty communities to provide free meals to every student without requiring families to apply individually. Saint Louis Public Schools
SNAP participation helps determine federal reimbursement under the program because students receiving benefits can be automatically identified as eligible for free meals. As SNAP enrollment falls, schools could receive less federal reimbursement.
“Cuts to SNAP are not going to stop at the grocery store,” Clarissa Hayes, deputy director of child nutrition programs and policy at the Food Research & Action Center, told Stateline. “They really are going to threaten children’s access to school meals.”
The potential pressure on school meals comes as St. Louis food providers say more families are seeking help.
St. Anthony’s Food Pantry in Dutchtown served 32,000 guests in 2024 and 46,000 last year. Director Rob Telthorst told St. Louis Magazine the pantry is on pace to serve 48,000 this year.
Asked what has changed for people coming to the pantry, Telthorst said some give a straightforward answer: “Got knocked off food stamps.” St. Louis Magazine
Operation Food Search also has seen a sharp increase. President and CEO Kristen Wild told St. Louis Magazine that shoppers using its MetroMarket program increased from 4,536 during the first half of 2025 to 13,982 during the same period this year. Wild cautioned that the comparison is imperfect because the program changes periodically. St. Louis Magazine
The St. Louis Area Foodbank has reported serving 6% to 10% more people each month in 2026. Spokesperson Ericka Kinkead also told St. Louis Magazine that freight costs jumped 10.9% during a two-month period this year and the price the organization pays for milk has increased 20.3% since 2024.
“If we’re seeing this — and we’re buying in bulk — then we know our neighbors are absolutely feeling that at the grocery store,” Kinkead told the magazine. St. Louis Magazine
The Foodbank says 1 in 7 people in the 26-county Eastern Missouri and Southwestern Illinois region it serves faces hunger. St. Louis Area Foodbank
Nationally, more than 5.6 million people lost SNAP coverage between May 2025 and May 2026, according to federal data cited by Stateline. About 36.6 million people were receiving benefits in May.
Students who lose automatic eligibility through SNAP do not necessarily lose access to free school meals. Some can qualify through other means, and schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision do not immediately stop providing free meals when SNAP enrollment declines.
School nutrition experts told Stateline that the highest-poverty schools are expected to remain protected in the near term. Schools serving a more economically mixed population could face greater financial pressure if declining SNAP participation reduces federal reimbursement.
For now, SLPS continues to provide free meals districtwide through the Community Eligibility Provision.
But Hayes said the broader effects of declining SNAP enrollment on school meals are only beginning to emerge.
“We are really only starting to see the beginning,” she told Stateline.