WhyHunger joins the anti-hunger community in calling out this ridiculous proposal to replace existing SNAP dollars with government selected, packaged food. In addition to the many critical questions raised about efficiency, logistics and cost, the potential damage to the millions of seniors, children, working families and individuals who rely on SNAP is astounding.  Removing the dignity and choice that is imbedded into the current SNAP system, where families can shop in neighborhood grocery stores and markets to purchase healthy, culturally-appropriate food that they know how to cook, that their kids will eat, and replacing it with a stigmatizing, government-selected box of processed food that contains NO fresh fruits or vegetables is a monumental step back in the progress we’ve made in the anti-hunger community and as a country.  This proposal takes precious purchasing power out of local food and farm economies, extracting dollars from farmer’s markets, mom-and-pop shops, rural grocers and discount grocery chains who rely on the well-documented positive effects of SNAP dollars on local economies.  This is just one more way the government is cutting holes in the dwindling safety net and shirking their responsibility to provide their citizens with the basic human right to nutritious food.

Read more:

FRAC: President’s FY 2019 Budget Will Make Hunger and Poverty Worse in America

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: President’s Budget Would Cut and Radically Restructure SNAP Food Benefits