March 17, 2025.
The budget resolution passed by the House of Representatives included instructions to the Agriculture Committee to come up with a plan to cut spending by $230 billion over 10 years. There is no way to do that without taking most or all of this huge figure from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP serves over 40 million people; about 8 in 10 SNAP households included either a child, an elderly individual, or a nonelderly individual with a disability. One in five children in the U.S. benefit from SNAP. The losses to this large population of people in need would be huge. Rather than trying to convey the costs with numbers alone, this Human Needs Watch includes stories about real people, with thanks to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger for sharing these stories. We are also grateful to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for state fact sheets that we drew upon in talking about the individuals depicted. Various proposals for cuts have been made – from cutting the meager average $6.20 per person per day SNAP benefit down to about $4.80 per person per day, to increasing the number of people whose benefits are limited to only 3 months in 2 years if they cannot show steady work, to shifting some of the costs of SNAP to states. All of these options will lead either to harsh reductions in benefits and/or benefits ending altogether for some.
In order to drive home the point that SNAP benefits are modest now and that further cuts would cause great hardship FRAC is asking us to join the SNAP Challenge this week, from March 18-20- see their toolkit for more promotional content. Sign up, and try to buy enough food to live on with about $6 a day per person. Think about how much worse it would be if you had to cut that down by $1.40 a day. They’d like you to spread the word about how little this is, through social media, LTE’s – and we respectfully suggest you tell your representative and senators. You can add your experience with the SNAP Challenge to this letter opposing SNAP cuts. Whatever you do – please don’t be silent. The Trump Administration and its slim majority in Congress want to make drastic cuts to human needs programs including SNAP in order to pay for tax cuts that primarily enrich the rich.
You can share these numbers on Facebook, Twitter (X), or re-share on Bluesky, and Threads.
|
Mikayla's story (Missouri)
|
"I am a chronically ill single mother, full time college student, and a substitute teacher. I am very low income and won't be able to make much more without graduating college. SNAP ensures my daughter has healthy food to eat and that I can eat a healthy diet to take care of my health. Without SNAP, I couldn't afford the right foods." From FRAC's SNAP Matters: Quotes from Participants two-pagers.
Click to Tweet (X), or re-share on Bluesky, or Threads.
|
In Missouri in 2024, more than 68 percent of households receiving SNAP included children; more than 34 percent included people with disabilities or older adults. SNAP lifted 107,000 people out of poverty in Missouri, including 46,000 children (on average between 2015-2019).
Click to Tweet (X), or re-share on Bluesky, and Threads.
|
Tim's story:
“That’s what happened to me…they cut me off food stamps. After three months, if you’re not fulfilling the work requirements, you don’t qualify. So, that’s a huge crack in the system.”
Tim is a Navy veteran who served during the Persian Gulf War, but he did not serve long enough to qualify for veterans' benefits — 20 months instead of 24 months. Following an injury, he was unable to work and applied for SNAP (formerly food stamps) so he could afford food. But he was cut off from SNAP after three months, because he could not meet the stringent work requirements — he became homeless and lost so much weight that he had to add seven holes on his belt. He was finally able to find assistance from his local food bank, but that only provided a few meals per week.
From MAZON’s Hunger Museum: Stories of a Broken Safety Net
Click to Tweet (X), or re-share on Bluesky, and Threads.
|
When SNAP 3-month time limits were reimposed in 2016 for people without dependent children who could not show they were working, a study in Connecticut found a 25% reduction in SNAP participants, mostly people with chronic illnesses like diabetes, or who were older (40-49) with multiple health conditions, or had very low incomes. This Journal of the American Medical Association study concluded that very few found jobs. So if Congress tries to save money be expanding work requirements, people will suffer and lose food, like Tim, but they won’t be more likely to find work.
Click to Tweet (X), or re-share on Bluesky, and Threads.
|
Shannon's story (Michigan)
|
We literally would not be able to eat and would rely solely on food pantries. My daughter is on formula and WIC doesn't cover enough formula a month. I would have to water it down and cross my fingers that I wasn't harming her. Food pantries do not typically get formula, let alone her dairy free formula." Read more stories like Shannon's from FRAC's SNAP Matters: Quotes from Participants two-pagers.
Click to Tweet (X), or re-share on Bluesky, and Threads.
|
In Michigan, SNAP participants are very poor: 27 percent of SNAP participants had incomes below half the federal poverty line in 2022; another 42 percent had incomes between 51% and 100% of the poverty line (the U.S. poverty threshold for a family of 3 in 2024 was $24,940). 13 percent of people in Michigan were food insecure in 2023 – that is, they couldn’t afford enough nutritious food. From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities MI Fact Sheet.
Click to Tweet (X), or re-share on Bluesky, and Threads.
|
Whitney's story
“I had planned to work until I wasn’t able to anymore. I thought that after working hard all my life, I’d be living the good life now.”
At age 62, after 16 years as a certified nursing assistant in rural Mississippi, Whitney was let go from her job. She found herself needing to apply for Social Security benefits early, not old enough for Medicare and unable to afford health insurance. She lived with constant stress, worried about managing her chronic health conditions and often forced to decide whether to buy food or medicine or pay bills.
From MAZON’s Hunger Museum: Stories of a Broken Safety Net
Click to Tweet (X), or re-share on Bluesky, and Threads.
|
|
