Don't cut program that feeds the hungry

Congress must not cut nutrition funding while many are hungry. The U.S. House is considering cutting $40 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) over 10 years. This would drop 4 million people from SNAP, reduce benefits for 1.6 million families, and leave 420,000 children without school meals.

This cut would be equivalent to eliminating all food distributed by churches and food banks for 10 years. For 25 years, a local church has served a free Sunday evening meal to any in need. It is now serving record numbers, 200 in a recent week. The Linn Community Food Bank is helping up to 70 households per day, providing them three days of food up to six times a year.

Feeding America is a national network of food banks, including our local HACAP Food Reservoir. The network tracks food insecurity using annual data from USDA. Last year they reported 16 percent of children in Linn and Johnson counties, a total of 12,300 kids, not always knowing where their next meal would come from.

SNAP is our main line of defense against hunger. More than three-fourths of households receiving SNAP include a child, an elderly person or a disabled person. In fact, able-bodied adults without dependents can only receive SNAP for three months in any 3-year period.

Tell Congress: Don't cut SNAP.

Ellen Fisher

Cedar Rapids