A stunning 1 in 4 active-duty servicemembers are food insecure as classified by the USDA — defined as "a difficulty in feeding yourself or your family members due to lack of economic resources within the last 12 months."

Some 10.5% of military members experienced "very low food security" meaning lack of food has caused disruptions to normal eating habits or reduced food intake.

These numbers are more than double that of civilian adults , where 10% are food insecure and 3.6% have very low food security.

The nature of military service itself can play a part in a family's economic circumstances — things like frequent moving, its effect on spousal employment, and living on rural bases with few nearby grocery options. But there's one major factor that our leaders in Washington can easily modernize, how SNAP benefits are calculated. Today, SNAP treats the military's basic housing allowance as unearned income, artificially increasing the income and asset value of servicemembers, and disqualifying many military families from SNAP benefits.

And the stats don't get much better for veterans whose service has ended.

1 in 9 veterans are food insecure and 1.2 million use SNAP benefits to supplement their food budgets. But veterans living in rural America, routinely face three big obstacles that make hunger worse:

* They earn low incomes, or may be disabled and on fixed incomes.
* They often have trouble finding good-paying jobs in their field
* Their physical and mental health is often impacted by their service and lack of access to nearby services — impacting their livelihoods.

Our men and women who've worn the uniform should never have to worry about how to put food on the table for them or their families. And frankly, our leaders in Congress have more work to do to uphold our promises to veterans and military families.

Heidi

Heidi Heitkamp, Former U.S. Senator From North Dakota Founder, One Country Project Express Donate:
If you've stored your info with ActBlue Express, we'll process your contribution instantly:
$5 [[link removed]] $15 [[link removed]] $25 [[link removed]] $50 [[link removed]]

Founded by former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), the One Country Project is dedicated to reopening the dialogue with rural communities, rebuilding trust and respect, and advancing an opportunity agenda for rural Americans. Our mission is to ensure rural America’s priorities and values are heard, understood, well-represented and reflected in policy in Washington.
Your financial contribution supports our work to promote greater opportunities for rural communities [[link removed]] .

If you're able, please join our rural champions program by making a recurring gift. Knowing we can count on your gift each month really helps.
Give Monthly: [link removed]


Paid for by One Country Project

This email was sent by One Country Project [[link removed]]

One Country Inc
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE
#15180
Washington, DC 20003
United States

One Country Project is a 501(c)(4). Contributions to One Country Project are not tax-deductible. They support our efforts to promote greater opportunities for rural communities.
Email is an important way for One Country Project to keep supporters like you informed about critical issues and to build a winning grassroots campaign. Too much email? Switch to our less email option [[link removed]] or unsubscribe here [[link removed]] .
You can also update your name, email, or mailing address. [[link removed]] Questions or concerns? Contact us here [[link removed]] .