"We are no longer counting food that someone gives you as income when we figure your SSI payment."
This came into effect on September 30, but they just informed SSI recipients (using the future tense) this morning.
You mean they can just change these awful rules without needing an act of Congress to do so? Incredible. We suffered for years for no reason! But don't worry, our call is important to them:
Second, this final rule promotes equity. SSI recipients, by definition, have low income and resources. Because low-income people disproportionately encounter barriers across a range of social, health, and economic outcomes, our goal is to improve their circumstances, thus improving equity.
Incredible. You're the ones who legally require that we have low income and resources! 
(Edited title)
Yes. That's why I'm on SSI and not SSDI. It's kinda like how they tie unemployment to your last paying full-time job and not something sensible like ... being unemployed. This was a shock to me when I was first applying for benefits and honestly we should all retain that shock because it's absolutely absurd.
SSI recipients get the ridiculous asset limits and other strictures, so they can punish us for having never entered the workforce.