Starting Friday, 933,000 people in Missouri will have less money to feed their families. They are part of the 47 million Americans who will see their SNAP (food stamp) benefits cut on Nov. 1 due to the end of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that passed four years ago.
The cut means that a family of four will lose $36 a month from their maximum monthly benefit. While this may not seem like a lot, $36 provides much more than you might think. It’s hard to imagine the strain this will place on struggling families who are counting every penny and trying to stretch their family’s food budget.
Here in Missouri, the 933,000 residents represent a staggering amount of people that will have less money to feed their families.
We expect that the upcoming cuts will result in an increased need for food assistance at food pantries and soup kitchens across the area that are already stretched meeting sustained high need in wake of the recession. Missouri food banks are doing everything we can to prepare for that certain influx.
But Friday’s cuts aren’t the last or only one that will create significant impact on families in need in our area. In September, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation cutting $40 billion in SNAP over the next 10 years. Together with this week’s cuts, the pending legislation will result in a loss of nearly 3.4 billion meals for low-income Americans in 2014 alone – a potentially devastating blow to many our neighbors, friends and colleagues.
While we cannot stop this week’s SNAP cuts, we can prevent further cuts from taking place. Call your Congressperson and tell them not to cut SNAP. Helping our neighbors in need is a fundamental American value, and fighting hunger is a public-private partnership. We need a strong charitable system AND a strong federal anti-hunger safety net. Working together, individuals, charities, business and government can solve hunger. Please help make sure no one in America goes hungry.