As your constituent, I urge you to oppose any budget reconciliation measure or other legislative effort to cut funding for school meals and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or to restrict eligibility for these crucial programs.
Congress should not sacrifice students’ and working families’ nutrition.
Hunger in America is soaring. Inflation is forcing many families to make difficult decisions about whether to pay a utility bill or buy food. Cutbacks to school meals and SNAP would be yet another weight for working families to shoulder—all in deference to the super-wealthy.
Measures have been proposed to cut the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a program that allows schools in high-need areas to feed all students at no charge to their families, and to increase income verification requirements for students. At the same time, potential cuts to SNAP—our nation’s largest anti-hunger program—would not only reduce benefits for families; they would hurt students who rely on SNAP direct certification to qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. When families no longer qualify for SNAP, their school meals participation is threatened.
When students are hungry, they can’t focus on learning. These detrimental proposals would increase student hunger and reinstate unnecessary, burdensome paperwork for families and school food service personnel, reducing the time school employees have for preparing healthy food and supporting students. The measures would also increase school meal debt and bring “lunch shaming”—the singling out of children who receive free meals—back to cafeterias.
I urge you to oppose any legislation that would reduce the number of students who receive free or reduced-price school meals or cut SNAP. Both are important efforts to fight hunger and food insecurity and position America’s children for academic success.
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