When the federal government shut down last fall, resulting in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Amber Porter began wondering how it would impact her fellow Belmont residents. From a Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance report, she learned that more than 700 households in Belmont identified as food insecure. In Massachusetts, 40% of households in the past year experienced food insecurity — more than doubling the rate from 2019, according to data from the Greater Boston Food Bank. “That really struck me,” Porter said. “There are a lot of people in our community that are experiencing food insecurity.”