21-05-2025
Harvesters concerned about proposed SNAP funding cuts
KANSASS CITY, Mo. — Proposed changes to the federal food program for low-income households are at the heart of efforts to get a budget bill through Congress.
Local food bank leaders say the proposals come at a time when food insecurity is at its peak.
Staff at Harvesters Community Food Network are concerned about the potential strain that could put on organizations like Harvesters, which is already seeing an increase in demand while some of its resources shrink.
'With any reduction in SNAP, we just don't have the capacity to make up that gap. The charitable food system does not have the capacity to make up that gap. This is a critical week because the House of Representatives has been reviewing this for the last week. And the vote is this Thursday,' said Harvesters CEO Stephen Davis.
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The bill, headed to the House for a full vote on Thursday, contains a $300 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over the next decade.
Davis says the SNAP program is critical for many families across the food bank's 27-county region.
'So Harvesters already distributes millions and millions of pounds of food, over 60 million pounds of food that we distributed last year. (The SNAP program) It is so imperative to the work that we do in our region, in that every one meal that we could provide as the food bank, SNAP provides nine meals to our communities. So it's just a critical nutrition program. It helps our children. It helps seniors who aren't able to work. It helps individuals with disabilities and working families ensure they have the food they need if they meet the income criteria to qualify for SNAP,' Davis said.
Products are dwindling on many shelves in the food bank's warehouse.
Davis says that's because of recent cuts to two major feeding programs, the high cost of food, and declining donations.
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'Meal gap data was just released last week, numbers in the 27 counties we serve went from 340,000 people that are food insecure or one in 8 to 375,000 people that are food insecure or one in seven. So the rates of food insecurity are higher than they've been in a decade,' Davis explained. 'At the same time, we're losing resources through different programs. So I would say this program(SNAP) is critical.'
Although Harvesters has faced challenges in recent months, staffers say they remain committed to serving the community and providing access to nutritious food.
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