WESLACO, Texas — Anti-hunger advocate Jeremy Everett issued an urgent warning regarding federal policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), cautioning that recent federal shifts are stripping vital resources from low-income families and devastating the local economy in the Rio Grande Valley.
Everett, executive director of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, delivered the keynote address at "Hunger in the RGV: A Call to Action." Later, he gave an exclusive interview to the Rio Grande Guardian.
The forum, hosted by Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez alongside South Texas College and Bread for the World, convened hundreds of community leaders, policy experts, and residents at South Texas College's Mid-Valley campus in Weslaco to address the region's escalating food insecurity crisis.
According to Everett, technical policy shifts embedded within federal legislation—specifically H.R. 1, often referred to as the "one big beautiful bill"—have severely altered SNAP funding dynamics by shifting financial responsibility onto state budgets.
The policy shift has already produced alarming consequences across the region:
"The average recipient is only on this program for nine months... but it can be a lifeline for families when they're trying to make ends meet," Everett said, highlighting that working-class households are increasingly forced to choose between groceries, housing, and basic transportation costs.
Because states were not consulted prior to the federal cost-share mandate, anti-hunger advocates express deep concern that state budgets will struggle to absorb the additional costs, further jeopardizing program accessibility.
During the forum, Everett—who also chairs the board of directors for Bread for the World—encouraged attendees to sign letters addressed to members of Congress. The coalition is urging federal lawmakers to delay the state cost-share requirement for two years.
Advocates argue that a two-year delay would give states necessary budgetary breathing room to streamline administrative procedures and lower error rates without cutting benefits for vulnerable households.
Addressing criticism regarding congressional outreach in South Texas, Everett underscored the historic, bipartisan nature of anti-hunger initiatives and urged regional representatives to remain responsive to local concerns.
"Historically, this has been a bipartisan issue," Everett noted. "What we would love to see is this to be a bipartisan issue again, for our Republicans and our Democrats to work together to be able to solve our country's greatest problems."
Despite the sobering statistics, Everett expressed optimism about the collaborative spirit of the Rio Grande Valley, describing the region as a hub for community-driven innovation.
He recalled how a small, rural meal initiative developed by the Baylor Collaborative—known as Meals to You—eventually became a national template. Designed to mail weekly food boxes directly to kids in remote rural school districts who lacked access to physical summer meal sites, the pilot program expanded nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic in partnership with the USDA. The effort ultimately delivered roughly 40 million meals to 270,000 children across 43 states and Puerto Rico, leading Congress to permanently authorize non-congregate rural meal delivery programs.
Everett emphasized that the same spirit of innovation will be required to tackle current SNAP rollbacks.
"Being here today, with hundreds of people crowded into a room, all thinking and strategizing together to figure out how they can make an impact for their neighbors, it was a pleasure for me to be able to be here and witness it happen," Everett said.
Editor's Note: The above story is the first in a series based on the "Hunger in the RGV: A Call to Action" forum.
