Tarrant Area Food Bank fights hunger amid historic SNAP cut proposals
The Brief
The Tarrant Area Food Bank is partnering with local farmers for a summer market, providing fresh produce to the community.
These efforts come as proposed federal cuts could reduce SNAP benefits by an estimated $300 billion through 2034, which would be the largest cut to the program in history.
If adopted, the cuts would significantly increase demand on local food banks, which are already seeing high need.
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Tarrant Area Food Bank started a summer partnership to provide access to fresh produce.
Now more than ever, the food bank is concerned about proposed cuts to federal benefits and the possible impact on North Texans.
Local perspective
Several local growers are at the farmers' market with freshly grown produce. It's the Tarrant Area Food Bank's way of supporting these small farmers and providing healthy food to the community.
It comes at a time when there could be major changes at the federal level as it applies to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program or SNAP benefits.
The food bank earlier today hosted a virtual discussion about the congressional developments playing out.
They pointed out that in the house-passed version of the current bill, it would reflect a $300 billion cut to the SNAP program through 2034.
What they're saying
The CEO of the Tarrant Area Food Bank, Julie Butner, believes the federal cuts to SNAP, if adopted, would make efforts like this farmers market and other food bank programs extremely crucial in meeting the needs of consumers and snap program recipients.
"The federal reductions in SNAP benefits that have been proposed, and today are with the Senate, are quite concerning, because when these neighbors lose the SNAP benefit. If it is cut, then naturally they will be turning to the local food bank, the Tarrant Area Food Bank and our 500 partner agencies to fill the gap," said Butner.
Feeding Texas is a statewide network of food banks leading a unified effort to end hunger in Texas. Feeding Texas' Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, Jami Olson, states this would be the largest cut to SNAP in history.
"It represents a 30 percent cut to our nation's most important and effective anti-hunger program. If this bill is enacted it would represent the largest cut to SNAP in our nation's history," said Olson.
What's next
As of early June 2025, the federal cuts are still proposed cuts moving through the legislative process.
The Source
Information in this article was provided by the Tarrant Area Food Bank and Feeding Texas representatives.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
11 minutes ago
- Forbes
How Stablecoins Are Changing Global Finance
Stable Coin. Stablecoins Cryptocurrencies Stable Market Price Value Coin Currency. The U.S. Senate has taken a major step toward regulating stablecoins by advancing the GENIUS Act—a bill that could reshape the digital finance landscape. Still under discussion, the legislation proposes strict reserve and transparency rules for issuers and signals growing government interest in crypto oversight. Stablecoins are crypto tokens that are typically pegged to the U.S. dollar. They allow users to transact within blockchain ecosystems without the volatility of traditional cryptocurrencies. Today, two clear leaders dominate the market. Yet, while Washington begins drafting policy, stablecoins have already found product-market fit in places far beyond Capitol Hill. The global use of stablecoins is growing steadily, regardless of whether the market is in a bull or bear phase. In Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and among crypto-native startups, they've quietly emerged as a preferred tool for payments, payroll, and preserving value in unstable economies. So what does this bottom-up adoption mean for the future of global finance? Are stablecoins here to stay, or will they be replaced by Central Bank Digital Currencies? And if they are here to stay, how to ride this trend? According to DefiLlama, the current market capitalization of stablecoins is around $250 billion, which is still a small share of the global M2 money supply, approximately 1%. In other words, we're still early. To understand where the growth might come from, it's worth examining what stablecoins are used for—and why they've become so popular. Stablecoins market capitalization. The first is USDT (Tether), the largest stablecoin by market capitalization. Interestingly, Tether has also emerged as one of the most financially efficient companies in the world on a per-employee basis. According to a tweet published by Avichal Garg, co-founder of Electric Capital, the company generated an estimated $85.6 million in profit per employee in 2024: Profit per Employee (USD) vs. Company The second major player is USDC, issued by U.S.-regulated firm Circle. The company went public on June 5, under the ticker CRCL, with its stock surging over 200% on its first day of trading—pushing its market capitalization above $20 billion, according to Barron's. These two companies currently dominate the stablecoin space. Others worth mentioning include: • USDS (formerly DAI), which started as a decentralized stablecoin but has become only partially decentralized due to its large holdings of U.S. Treasuries and USDC. • USD1, a politically charged entrant tied to Donald Trump's network, which has generated some discomfort among Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Maxine Waters (D–Calif.), the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, voiced strong objections during a joint hearing on digital assets, stating: 'I object to this joint hearing because of the corruption of the President of the United States and his ownership of crypto and his oversight of all of the agencies.' Stablecoins are enjoying instant product-market fit: everyone needs access to crypto dollars — a version of the U.S. dollar that can be easily converted back to fiat, yet offers several advantages over traditional USD. While much of the attention on stablecoins focuses on regulation and market cap, their real momentum comes from how they're being used: The most obvious example of stablecoin usage is international payments. Sending U.S. dollars across borders with the traditional banking system typically involves SWIFT. Banks charge between $5 and $50 per transaction, often around $20, regardless of the transfer amount. That means sending $1,000 could cost users up to 2–5% in fees. In addition, the SWIFT transfers can take several business days to settle. Compared to transferring the same amount via stablecoins, even in the worst case, fees might only be a few dollars, and the transaction typically settles within minutes. That's at least 10 times cheaper and potentially 100 times faster. There's also another major benefit: users avoid capital controls, currency conversion hurdles, and heavy compliance bottlenecks, particularly relevant when sending money from or to countries with restrictive financial systems. The second use case — using stablecoins as a means of payment — is less advanced, largely due to regulatory inertia. Governments generally want citizens to transact in their local currencies, and stablecoins challenge that sovereignty. The lack of clarity discourages businesses from accepting them, especially given the lingering memory of Operation Choke Point, when certain industries were unofficially cut off from banking services. Despite the current U.S. administration's relatively crypto-friendly stance, the stablecoin bill GENIUS Act has yet to pass through Congress. This uncertainty keeps most merchants and payment providers on the sidelines. Once clear legislation is enacted, trust in stablecoins like USDT and USDC will likely surge. As for CBDCs, a concept that is often met with skepticism in the cryptocurrency community, the need for a government-backed digital dollar seems increasingly unnecessary. According to U.S. Treasury International Capital data, Tether's treasury holdings alone rival those of sovereign investors like Germany or Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Circle's portfolio is comparable to that of Thailand or Sweden. With such significant exposure to U.S. debt and growing political opposition to CBDCs—including campaign promises from Donald Trump to block their development—stablecoins may have already secured their place as the preferred digital dollar infrastructure in the United States. The third major use case—decentralized finance —is where stablecoins are already thriving. They serve as the foundational currency for DeFi applications, enabling lending, borrowing, swapping, yield farming, and more—all without centralized intermediaries. The functionality mirrors traditional finance but with key advantages: it's global, permissionless, and often more efficient. According to Dune Analytics data in the DeFi Report 2024–2025 , approximately 151 million wallet addresses interacted with DeFi protocols in 2024. While this figure likely includes duplicates, it provides a useful upper bound for estimating user activity. By comparison, World Bank data from 2021 shows that 4.6 to 4.9 billion people used traditional banking services globally. This also underscores the early stage of adoption of DeFi. But, once frameworks are established, DeFi usage could accelerate rapidly. Following these three cases, it's fair to say that stablecoins are here to stay. And this may only be the beginning: as crypto infrastructure intersects with artificial intelligence, stablecoins could enable AI agents to transact autonomously, unlocking programmable, real-time finance. So, how can investors position themselves to benefit from this trend? There are many ways, some of them look obvious, like buying CRCL as it has become a public company, or investing in Coinbase stocks (COIN), a company which is steadily growing its own layer two DeFi ecosystem. Some are more complicated, like finding companies to invest in that adopt stablecoins in their operations — for payments, payroll, or international transfers — and which are likely to scale faster than their peers, thanks to lower costs and global reach. Check Stripe, PayPal, and Deel as examples. On the decentralized side, assuming a favorable regulatory framework materializes, in a next way of adoption, DeFi applications could rapidly pull users away from traditional banks. In that case, there is significant upside in owning tokens or equity in platforms like Uniswap, Aave, or even Hyperliquid — all of which are well-positioned to become foundational players in the next generation of financial infrastructure. Derivative DEX trading volumes. But don't forget the risks to watch. Transformation won't come without resistance. The banking lobby remains one of the most powerful political forces in the world, and it's unlikely to welcome a shift toward 'magic internet money' without a fight. Regulatory headwinds, political gridlock, and coordinated opposition from legacy institutions are all real risks investors should keep in mind. But we know that fortune, at least in markets driven by emerging technologies, often favors the brave.
The Hill
12 minutes ago
- The Hill
Freedom Caucus warns it will ‘not accept' Senate changes on green energy tax credits
The conservative House Freedom Caucus said on Friday that it would 'not accept' changes that 'water down' its cuts to green energy tax credits as the Senate weighs whether to alter the legislation. The House version of the 'big, beautiful bill' would make drastic changes to tax cuts for low-carbon energy sources passed in the Democrats' 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Climate-friendly energy projects, including wind and solar, would only be able to qualify for the credits under the House bill if they begin construction within 60 days of the bill's enactment. This brief window would likely make many projects ineligible for the credits, and is expected to significantly hamstring the development of new renewable power. In a post on social media on Friday, the Freedom Caucus warned the Senate against loosening that restriction or others included in the bill. 'We want to be crystal clear: if the Senate attempts to water down, strip out, or walk back the hard-fought spending reductions and IRA Green New Scam rollbacks achieved in this legislation, we will not accept it,' said the post, which was attributed to the Freedom Caucus's board. 'The House Freedom Caucus Board will stand united holding the line. The American people didn't send us here to cave to the swamp — they sent us here to change it,' they added. The Senate has been widely expected to consider changes that could slow the rapid elimination of the tax credit passed under the House version of Trump's 'big beautiful bill.' Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Jerry Moran (Kan.) and John Curtis (Utah) released a letter warning against a 'full scale' repeal of the tax credits. Senate Republicans can only afford three defections and pass their bill. On Friday, a group of 13 House GOP moderates released a letter calling on Senate leadership 'to substantively and strategically improve clean energy tax credit provisions' in the legislation. 'We believe the Senate now has a critical opportunity to restore common sense and deliver a truly pro-energy growth final bill that protects taxpayers while also unleashing the potential of U.S. energy producers, manufacturers, and workers,' said the letter, which was led by Reps. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.). Altogether, the letters illustrate what could be a tough task ahead of the Republican leadership as they look to find a measure that will keep at least 50 senators on board and appease the House. Emily Brooks contributed.
Axios
14 minutes ago
- Axios
Scoop: LaCivita signs up for Florida Senate race
Senior Trump political adviser Chris LaCivita is joining a super PAC bolstering Florida Sen. Ashley Moody in next year's midterm election, Axios has learned. Why it matters: LaCivita gives Moody, who has filled the seat formerly held by now-Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the imprimatur of support from President Trump's orbit. Moody was appointed in January to the seat by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who faced off against Trump in a bitter battle for the Republican nomination in 2024. Moody, a former Florida attorney general, is seeking a full term in 2026. She has yet to attract a serious primary challenger. Zoom in: Moody has also brought on Tony Fabrizio, another chief strategist on Trump's 2024 campaign. LaCivita and Fabrizio are playing key roles in steering Trump's cash-flush political operation. LaCivita is working for several other GOP candidates running next year, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Michigan Senate hopeful Mike Rogers.
