Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Supplemental food benefits set to end in March

Emergency food benefits instituted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic will be ending in March. 

Supplemental food allotments from a national Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) program began in March 2020. Eligible households have been receiving at least an extra $95 per month, on top of regular monthly benefits. Now a change at the federal level means February will be the final month for the emergency allotments.

According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the average FNS benefit per person per day will decrease from $8.12 to $5.45.

On average, 900,000 North Carolina households received emergency allotments during the pandemic, which gave families greater food purchasing power.

Regular monthly benefits will continue as of March.

NCDHHS officials say they are committed to addressing food insecurity and urge people to visit their website to learn about other options such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, also known as WIC.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate