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Philadelphia’s hunger crisis is worsening, and nonprofits like Share Food Program say they are struggling to keep up as federal cuts drive more residents to seek help.
But the city’s increasing hunger problem is “completely preventable,” says George Matysik, Share Food’s executive director.
A 2025 report from the city’s Office of Homeless Services shows that food insecurity in Philadelphia is increasing, almost reaching 20%. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as limited or uncertain access to adequate food. Food insecurity levels in Philadelphia have historically been significantly higher compared to national numbers. As of Feb 2026, 27% of the population are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
Historic federal cuts to SNAP benefits last year meant that around 45,000 of recipients were at risk of losing access. Work and visa status requirements put into place by the federal government strip SNAP benefits from most non-U.S. citizens and from citizens who cannot prove they are working 20 hours a week. Uncertainty surrounding SNAP benefits and the already increasing food insecurity levels in Philadelphia has put significant pressure on food relief organizations.
Share Food Program is the leading hunger relief organization in the Philadelphia region and one of the biggest independent food banks in the nation. Founded in 1986 as a food co-op, the nonprofit is heavily supported and powered by volunteers and includes food pantries, 24/7 community fridges, a farm and a food recovery program.
According to Matysik, the 18 food banks in Pennsylvania have seen a 40% increase in need over the last two years. As SNAP benefits are cut off, more people turn to hunger relief organizations for assistance.
“We’re kind of here as a safety net, but realistically, SNAP is one of the largest, most effective programs in our history for keeping people fed. So when you take so much of that away, a lot of the burden falls back onto food banks. And we were already stretched pretty thin before these historic cuts to SNAP,” said Jess Bautista, chief communications officer at Share.
‘The fridge gets emptied out a lot quicker’
Matysik noted that, after COVID-19, federal and state governments introduced policies including extended unemployment benefits, child income tax credit, and additional SNAP benefits which helped alleviate some of the strain caused by the pandemic. However, the rise in inflation and economic instability was difficult to ignore.
“As we scratched and clawed our way out of that health crisis, the economic crisis for so many families stayed with us. What we are now seeing is imbalanced recovery. For so many families across the United States, they have seen zero recovering. In fact, they’re only seeing things get worse,” he said.
Over the last year, federal cuts and the government shutdown have only elevated that crisis.
“We have [historically] worked in tandem with the federal government to help address these issues. But in the course of this last year, it is the federal government that is causing the problems. The federal government is creating the situation that we’re in because of the reckless policies of this administration,” Matysik continued.
According to Matysik, Share has lost around $10 million in federal funding and has been straining to fill the gaps as more and more people have been coming to the pantry over the course of the last year. In late October and November, the nonprofit saw a nine-fold increase in visits from people, many of whom were coming for the first time.
Owen Pazderak, the volunteer program coordinator at Share, echoed this sentiment. Alongside the pantry, the program also works with organizations across the region to set up food fridges which are open 24/7 and mostly stocked by community members, including restaurants who have extra food left over at the end of the day.
“The fridge gets emptied out a lot quicker than it used to,” he said. “Things seem to be flowing a little bit more slowly than usual and staffing for other organizations that we work with seems to be a bit more limited. And so we’ve had to improvise a little bit more in terms of how much food we’re storing in our warehouse, and how long we might need to wait for the next shipment of food to arrive. We’ve been able to make it work but it’s a new challenge every day.”
Neighbors helping neighbors
But despite these limitations and strains, Philly remains resilient. The crisis has brought a lot more volunteers to the program.
“Everything they say about the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection [is] very true. People seem very motivated to help out their neighbors and to look out for anybody who might be struggling more than they are,” Pazderak said.
Volunteering at Share also fulfills community service hours for anyone who may have court-mandated community service hours. Pazderak said many volunteers who are fulfilling community service hours seem even more motivated to help others in times of need.
“I have found that people who have been down on their luck in the past and have struggled in a similar way to our food recipients, seem almost more motivated sometimes to make sure that other people are taken care of,” he said.
Part of the mission at Share is battling food insecurity by reducing the stigma around asking for help. A 2025 study by Healthy Eating Research, which assessed structural and individual stigma with 18 emergency food program clients in Pennsylvania and Delaware and 19 in Texas, found that nearly 60% of people experience a fear of being judged for using food assistance programs.
Bautista noted that many people experiencing food insecurity are working multiple jobs, but “the reality is that the cost of food is only going up. The cost of rent, the cost of living overall, is only going up. So experiencing food insecurity has nothing to do with how hard you work.”
At Share, staff and volunteers want to eliminate the stigma that the need for help must have come from doing something wrong and the perception that other people may be more deserving. “So many more people are struggling than they were before,” Pazderak said.
Britt Korn runs the food recovery program at Share which works with retail donors, such as restaurants, grocery stores and farms, to recover surplus food that is still unspoiled, but may not be perfect for ordinary retail sale. Share volunteers deliver the surplus to local nonprofits who distribute the food to their communities.
The ability to support a community by alleviating food insecurity is “a gift,” Korn said. There is enough food to feed everyone, they noted.
“Food is a human right in the most basic way that we can say that. We have this mindset that there’s scarcity and we’re competing for it. But truly there is abundance and that food that ends up in the waste stream also contributes to carbon emissions,” Korn said.
Amanda Ruffner, communications strategist at Share, hopes to connect with more retailers and nonprofits in the region in order to widen their food recovery program, especially in historically marginalized communities.
“There are a number of complex issues out there that plague our communities, but hunger is the one where we know how to solve it. It can be fixed,” she said.
As an organization, Share is hopeful about the future of hunger in Philadelphia.
“Our communities are more tied together than ever. Folks are stepping up more than ever. We really have a network of individuals and organizations that are doing what they can to help each other,” Korn said.
