By Melissa Nann Burke, MediaNews Group

Food benefits for 1.4 million Michiganians will be delayed in November due to a lack of sufficient funding during the federal government shutdown, state officials said Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which operates the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has directed Michigan officials to hold off on issuing November’s SNAP payments and ongoing benefits “until further notice,” according to a statement by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

In the fourth week of the shutdown, the communication from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service to the state said there will be limited funds to pay full November SNAP benefits for 42 million individuals across the U.S. The program covers nearly 13% of households or 1.

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