More than 15.6 million households in the U.S. are food insecure. While the 2018 Farm Bill is not an ultimate answer to poverty and food instability, it does make incredible strides toward ensuring that our neighbors at home and abroad have greater food security.
Click here to urge your U.S. Representative to protect Californians.
Unless amended, however, the current bill (HR 2) will harm Californians. Specifically, urge your Congressman to seek these two amendments:
Keep the current funding structure – Do not change the manner in which SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – funding is calculated. As it now stand, HR 2 – by changing the calculation method – would reduce California’s funding by 36 percent. This is on top of a 27 percent reduction since 2014.
Keep program administration within the Federal Nutrition Service and state agencies – Currently HR 2 moves the funding to the USDA National Institute of Food and Agricultural (federal) and land-grant universities (state). Not only does this limit states from operating in the most appropriate manner for their communities but it will also harm SNAP recipients.
Our Catholic faith calls us to honor the dignity of every human being. We must ensure that all people have regular access to sufficient nutritious food. Your voice will make a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters experiencing hunger in California.