San Antonio Food Bank volunteers fill boxes for a distribution late last year. Credit: Facebook / San Antonio Food Bank

The San Antonio Food Bank is bracing for a rush in demand as the Trump administration’s one-two punch of tariffs and massive federal layoffs cut into the economic stability of local residents.

Food Bank CEO Eric Cooper said the White House’s tariffs on Mexican goods will raise food prices, hurting San Antonio families’ ability to afford groceries. At the same time, those price hikes will limit the ability of donors to supply the nonprofit with sustenance to aid families in need.

What’s more, the White House’s sweeping federal layoffs will force more Alamo City families to rely on food donations, Cooper added. Roughly 3% of the area’s workforce is employed by the U.S. government — the sixth-highest percentage of any large U.S. metro.

“These tariffs, these job cuts will impact an important building block of life for people in San Antonio — and that’s food, that’s nourishment,” Cooper said. “That will cause hunger in our community.”

Cooper said he’s seen the economic fragility of the area’s federal workforce during government shutdowns. Even though those disruptions didn’t result in longterm layoffs, the Food Bank experienced an upswing in demand as federal employees scrambled to keep their families fed.

“In those cases, it wasn’t a loss of a job, but the loss of paycheck,” he said. “The margins are so thin right now. So many people live paycheck to paycheck.”

While the Trump administration this week agreed to a one-month delay for some tariffs on Mexican and Canadian products, economists warn the threats still loom large. In 2023, Mexico supplied 63% of U.S. vegetable imports and 47% of U.S. fruit and nut imports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We tried to get out front of the tariffs,” Cooper said. “We spent what we could to shore up where we could, but sooner or later that’s going to run out. … I’m worried we won’t have the amount of food needed and we may have to ration.”

The economic turmoil also comes as Congressional Republicans consider cuts to programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), otherwise known as food stamps, to extend tax cuts to the wealthy adopted during the first Trump administration.  

“I just hope that through all of this Congress sees the value of nutrition programs and doesn’t cut programs like SNAP,” Cooper added.

Despite the pressure on the Food Bank, Cooper said people caught up in economic hard times shouldn’t shy from reaching for help. The nonprofit won’t stop serving the community and doesn’t want people to think they can’t seek food assistance.

“I just want folks to know we have the resources to help those in need, and even if things get more difficult, we’re going to continue to do that,” he added.

Those needing Food Bank assistance can visit its website and click the red “Get help” button at the top of the page.

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This article appears in Mar 5-18, 2025.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...