Bending the Arc

In a news article from the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) earlier this month, it was reported that the House of Representatives narrowly passed the Senate’s version of a budget blueprint, sending a troubling message to tens of millions of Americans who struggle to make ends meet. Instead of prioritizing ending hunger and poverty in this country, the budget blueprint aims to advance tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. 
The blueprint calls on congressional committees to slash billions of dollars from programs within their jurisdictions, which include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and school meals. This blueprint comes at a time when hunger is on the rise and families are facing higher food costs. 

SNAP is our nation’s first line of defense against hunger and helps more than 42 million people put food on the table. Proposals to cut SNAP would strip food from individuals and families and make dramatic structural changes to the program, shifting the burden to local governments and charities — who cannot fill the gap. These proposals would harm local economies, especially for our nation’s farmers and food retailers. Health care costs would increase, as food insecurity is linked to higher rates of chronic illness and poor health outcomes. 

Any cuts to SNAP would have damaging ripple effects on families’ direct access to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a non-mandatory program that provides critical nutrition resources to parents, infants, and young children. Families removed from SNAP would also lose their direct link to free school meals and the Summer EBT Program, which provides families with critical funds to keep hunger at bay during the summer months.  

School meals are critical to children’s health and learning. Any cuts to children’s access to free school meals would increase child hunger, bring stigma back into the cafeteria, lead to school meal debt, and make it more difficult for working families to make ends meet. This includes the proposed cut to the Community Eligibility Provision that would reduce the number of schools that are able to offer free meals to all their students by 24,000, impacting 12 million children.  

Clearly, these draconian proposed structural changes and cuts would only deepen America’s hunger crisis, pushing more children, older adults, veterans, and working families into hunger and poverty while stalling the economy. 

They are urging Congress to reconsider this dangerous path. The nation’s budget should reflect the shared vision of a strong, productive, and stable America. This vision cannot be achieved by making it more difficult for people to meet their basic needs, including access to food.  

Caring citizens are encouraged to stand with families, advocates, and communities across the country in demanding a budget that puts people first and ensures that everyone has the nutrition they need to thrive. Contact Congress.

In a follow-up article, FRAC identifies how SNAP cuts will threaten the fabric of our rural communities — supporting families, farmers, and small businesses alike. Cutting this program would do more than increase food insecurity; it would undermine economic resilience, especially in rural Kansas, where every dollar counts and often circulates many times over in the local economy. Read more here.

Learn about the Farm Bill and ways you can take action here: https://frac.org/action/snap-farm-bill/road-to-the-farm-bill 

More recently, in an article from the Economy Policy Institute, posted April 29, some say cuts to SNAP benefits will disproportionately harm families of color and children. Read more here: https://www.epi.org/blog/cuts-to-snap-benefits-will-disproportionately-harm-families-of-color-and-children/