Statement attributed to Jason Jakubowski, President & CEO
Bloomfield, CT
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a proven anti-hunger program that provides millions of people struggling with hunger critical food assistance, including thousands across Greater Hartford. Just in time for the holidays, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a harmful final rule that will cut SNAP benefits for nearly 700,000 unemployed and underemployed people, leaving far too many of the individuals Foodshare and other emergency food providers serve unsure of how they will access healthy, nutritious food when the new year begins.
When people need help, they turn to the charitable sector to help put food on the table. While Foodshare and the rest of Feeding America’s 200-member hunger-relief network will always be on the frontline to ensure no one goes hungry, we alone cannot meet the uptick in need that will result from an immense loss in SNAP benefits. By the USDA’s own estimates, the rule will cut SNAP annually by $1.1 billion, swiping 625 million meals from food insecure households every year (or more than 6.2 billion meals over the next decade). Foodshare and other emergency food providers will face undue pressure to help fill in where the federal government falls short.
As Foodshare continues to deliver on its promise to provide nutritious food to individuals in need in Hartford and Tolland counties, we strongly urge the USDA to consider the harm of the final rule and invest in policies that eliminate hunger in Greater Hartford and elsewhere in the nation.
Rule Background
Under current law, SNAP eligibility is already severely limited: the program imposes a strict time limit on able-bodied beneficiaries ages 18 to 50 and not caring for children (called Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents, or ABAWDs), capping their access to essential food assistance to three months every three years, unless they are working no less than 20 hours a week or participating in a comparable workforce program or training.
Right now, states have the option to waive the time limits to accommodate the reality that employment opportunities are limited in many pockets of the country. The waivers, which have been requested by nearly every state, help to ensure that individuals facing barriers to adequate employment — lack of transportation, irregular work schedules — are able to eat. However, the USDA’s final rule will dramatically limit states’ ability to waive the time limits, effectively increasing hunger and hardship for many of our neighbors who are food insecure and are looking to work while facing volatile labor market conditions.
About Foodshare
Foodshare is leading an informed, coordinated response to hunger in our community. Foodshare is the Feeding America food bank serving Connecticut’s Hartford and Tolland counties, where 127,000 people struggle with hunger. In partnership with the food industry, donors, community leaders and volunteers, Foodshare works to maximize access to nutritious food and other resources that support food security. Last year, Foodshare distributed nearly 12 million meals worth of food to a network of 300 local food pantries, meal programs, and Mobile Foodshare sites. And, because it takes more than food to end hunger, Foodshare collaborates with anti-hunger organizations, policy makers, and the broader community to build effective solutions to end hunger.
Foodshare is changing what it means to be a food bank. For more information, visit www.foodshare.org, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
