Anti-Hunger Advocates Oppose Limits on Food Benefits in Farm Bill

Anti-hunger groups are calling on Congress to protect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – as negotiations continue on the massive 2023 farm bill, due this fall.

SNAP, known in California as Cal Fresh, provides an average benefit of $6 per person per day. Luis Guardia – president of the Food Research and Action Center – said he wants SNAP benefits to be higher, and more accessible.

“We can achieve this in the program,” said Guardia, “by linking benefits to a more realistic food plan, ending time limits for the unemployed, repealing the ban on individuals with a drug felony, dropping extra work requirements for full-time college students, and ending the prohibition on hot prepared foods.”

Conservative Republicans are expected to call to restrict access to the program, which serves 12% of Americans – 4.6 million people in California alone.

The chair of the House Agriculture Committee, Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson – R-Howard – has called for “reconsideration” of money allocated in the Inflation Reduction Act to climate-friendly agricultural programs.