It’s been several years since my wife and I anxiously analyzed the free and reduced school meal application paperwork, but we haven’t forgotten the days of waiting for the next paycheck to drop so the debit card would work on the next grocery trip, or the relief of finding a second job with the same dress code as the first to cut down on both expenses and the time needed between shifts.

Those memories are useful when, as today, writing about food insecurity and working the calculator from a place of considerable comfort. The topic seemed essential given the very real likelihood an ongoing federal shutdown means 1.9 million Illinoisans are about to stop getting $350 million in monthly food assistance, an issue I discussed recently but without factoring in another looming change: the Ja

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