LETTER: Congress should not cut SNAP program

What will happen with the Farm Bill?

The best we can hope for is Congress to pass yet another one- or two-year extension before the current extension expires Dec. 31.

Let us look at the hold-ups:

The House’s proposed funding bill makes spending cuts — cutting total funding by 3.6% from 2024 — to every Farm Aid priority program, cuts SNAP funding by $30 billion over the next 10 years; and includes very harmful “riders.” Among these riders are measures to eliminate protections for small meat and poultry producers against large companies; prohibit equity, diversity and inclusion programs at the USDA; and allows individuals and organizations to discriminate against LGBTQIA+ people based on “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

I find this proposed funding bill disappointing for so many reasons, but I can sum it up as a great disregard for human life. As a dietitian, I know how important it is for people to have resources and access to healthy foods. I am sure everyone working in health care would agree with me. These cuts would take food out of the mouths of millions who need the SNAP program for their daily subsistence.

An alternative:

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has introduced the Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act. The bill continues improvements so SNAP benefits can better cover the costs of a healthy diet, creates a long-overdue path for Puerto Rico to be included in the SNAP program, removes the lifetime ban on nutrition assistance for individuals convicted of a drug-related felony, expands access for college students facing hunger, protects victims of theft of SNAP benefits, and increases funding for food banks.

Urge members of congress to make reject funding cuts to the SNAP program.

Valari Taylor

Rio Rancho