FoodStamps.org Proposes New Series with Weekly Breakdown in SNAPS Budget Coverage

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It’s simple. The government is trying to save money any way it can, while advertising these cuts as benefits to taxpayers

(PRWEB) June 16, 2012

The recent news surrounding the farm bill’s budget cuts to America’s food stamp program SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) created a stir for hunger advocacy groups. These groups aren’t the only ones trying to expose Americans to the problems these cuts would cause. FoodStamps.org has been covering the fight over the farm bill since the beginning, including both the opinions of Congress, advocacy leaders and food stamp recipients, but in a new series, writers will be giving a weekly breakdown in SNAP budget coverage. As over 45 billion Americans use food stamps, making cuts to one of the most useful government programs has created negative attention for the White House, but senators Jeff Sessions (R-Ala) and Rand Paul (R-Ky) continue to promote big cuts for federal spending on food stamps, according to FoodStamp.org’s lead analyst CK Adams.

”It’s simple. The government is trying to save money any way it can, while advertising these cuts as benefits to taxpayers—unfortunately the taxpayers are also receiving these benefits, so they’re playing up these cuts to the wrong base,” said Adams, whose research can be found on FoodStamps.org’s daily blog.

The new series will explore new interviews with both parties of Congress, as well as looking at how advocacy groups are responding to the farm bill. The new cuts are being included in the farm bill, a piece of legislation developed as an agricultural and food policy for the federal government. In the past, farm bills have created more spending, and they’ve also created problems for international trade. However, that’s not the fate of this year’s farm bill, although there are some senators trying to keep food stamps “off the chopping block.” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is one of those trying to protect SNAP.

“Gillibrand has really stepped up in the fight to keep food stamps. She showed that the farm bill should be about health of the agricultural industry but also about the health of families, who depend on nutritional assistance,” stated Adams.

If the farm bill passes with food stamp cuts, $4.5 billion would be trimmed from SNAP benefits. What does that boil down? Families and individuals on SNAP would lose about $90 per month. Adams has also shown the benefits of food stamp challenges, in which political figures, often mayors, go on a food stamp budget for a couple weeks, living on about $1 a day for food. With $90 less per month, the cuts will create problems for families, homebound seniors and the nation’s swelling homeless population.

“From everything that I’ve read, these cuts are going to create even more problems if passed with the farm bill. Gillibrand has other ideas to save money, including cutting the payments to crop insurance companies from $1.3 billion to $825 billion per year, which would equal the same amount as the budget cuts to food stamps. At least there’s someone trying to come up with better ideas for our nation’s spending,” said Adams.

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