Attributed to Matt Knott, President of Feeding America
“Today’s release of the 2018 House farm bill revealed alarming proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s cornerstone federal nutrition program. Feeding America is deeply concerned with the damage the legislation could do to communities we serve and the decades of progress in addressing hunger it would unravel.
“While Feeding America’s nationwide network of member food banks distributes more than four billion meals annually, our contribution to addressing hunger in the United States pales in comparison to the assistance made possible by the SNAP program. For every meal provided by the Feeding America network, SNAP provides 12. The inescapable reality is that SNAP cuts would have a boat-swamping effect on our network, and changes of this magnitude to an efficient and sound program would set the fight against hunger back in communities across our country.
“In 2014, congress examined expanding work requirements and concluded that to avoid adopting uninformed and risky changes, they would provide $200 million for 10 substantial state demonstration projects to find what aids jobless SNAP participants in gaining employment. These demonstrations are well underway. But rather than await the results, the proposal introduced, today, mandates that all states institute untested, sweeping changes.
“This legislation’s SNAP provisions are held out as a means of helping unemployed individuals find jobs and obtain independence. Regrettably, making it harder for vulnerable members of our community to access food assistance does not set them on a path to self-sufficiency and success; rather it knocks them back down and makes it harder for them to work toward a better future.
“SNAP not only supports families in need, it boosts the economies around them. For every dollar invested in SNAP, the program generates $1.79 in economic activity. SNAP is vital to smaller communities, particularly in rural areas, where it supports small businesses and helps create jobs.
“If what we truly want to see is more Americans standing on their own and fewer people facing hunger, then we need an effective farm bill with a strong Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.”
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About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 5.3 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on X.com.