PITT COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – Emergency food allotments that were increased due to COVID-19 will soon revert back to pre-pandemic levels.

Pitt County says that will happen on March 1st thanks to a federal decision.

Families who received these benefits since March 2020 will see an average decrease of $8.12 to $5.45 drop in their Electronic Benefits Transfer cards. The variance depends on the specific benefits each person has. These families will continue to get these services, but they will return to pre-pandemic allotments.

An average of 900,000 North Carolinians, individuals, and families, received the benefits. Pitt County says during this time, residents all across the state were provided access to healthy meals with local economies receiving approximately $150 million in federal dollars per month.

Pitt County Department of Social Services announced that they will continue to connect families and individuals to food insecurity resources through programs like NCCARE360 and the NC Medicaid Healthy Opportunities Pilot.