None of this is normal. Food-stamp benefits have never been cut like this in the current program’s more-than-60-year history. “It is a significant inflection point in the program’s history,” Christopher Bosso, a political scientist at Northeastern University who wrote a book on SNAP, told me. “Where we go from here is anyone’s guess.”

As the controversy over funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) during the government shutdown dragged on in recent days, the top official in charge of the program pivoted to a new talking point, calling the program that some 42 million Americans rely on "corrupt."

Food banks and hunger relief organizations are seeing an increase in the number of people lining up for food packages since SNAP benefits were halted on Nov. 1.

The Agriculture Department will use $4.65 billion in emergency funds to partially restart food aid programs halted by the government shutdown. Mill

While the political and legal wrangling continues, the bottom line for thousands of families, including the 1 in 20 in Utah who rely on food stamps for at least part of their food, is uncertainty about the future and no benefits at the moment.