Media Contact:
Jordan Baker
jbaker@frac.org
202-640-1118
Statement attributable to Crystal FitzSimons, interim president, Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
WASHINGTON, February 14, 2025 — At a time when millions of people throughout the country are struggling to make ends meet, Congress should be focused on strengthening critical food assistance programs, not weakening them. Yet, some Republicans in Congress are proposing drastic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), our nation’s first line of defense against hunger, and school meals, which are critical to children’s health and learning. These cuts would take away food from people who need it, increase hunger, and harm the economy.
These proposals are part of efforts to pass a budget reconciliation, with both the House and Senate directing Congressional Committees to slash billions of dollars from programs within their jurisdictions, which include SNAP and school meals. In the House, these massive program cuts are being offered in exchange for funding tax cuts to the wealthy and large corporations. While Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a non-mandatory program, is not included in budget reconciliation, the proposed cuts to SNAP, if passed, would have harmful ripple effects on WIC access. Putting SNAP and school meals on the chopping block to meet these instructions is putting the well-being of millions of households and local economies last on the nation’s priority list.
More than 42 million people rely on SNAP to put food on the table. SNAP is proven to reduce hunger, improve overall health outcomes, and reduce health care costs. Any cuts to SNAP would do particular harm to children, older adults, and people with disabilities, who make up the majority of SNAP households.
Proposals to reduce SNAP benefits would increase food insecurity and shift the burden to local governments and charities — who cannot fill the gap. It would also harm local economies, particularly in rural and under-resourced areas. Every $1 in SNAP benefits generates up to $1.80 in economic activity during an economic downturn. In areas where food retailers are already struggling, any reduction in SNAP benefits would have a severe impact on businesses and farmers, leading to job losses and reduced revenue in grocery stores and agricultural sectors.
Families removed from SNAP as a result of any cuts would lose their direct link to free school meals and the Summer EBT Program, which provides families with critical funds to keep hunger at bay during the summer months.
School meals are one of the healthiest sources of food for children and are often a primary source of nutrition for children residing in households with low incomes. The proposed cuts to school meals would result in large numbers of children losing access to the nutrition they need to succeed in the classroom, place an additional financial burden on families already struggling with expensive grocery bills, and significantly increase the administrative burden on schools that operate the programs.
The proposed cuts to the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) would dramatically reduce the number of high-need schools able to offer free meals to all of their students and decrease school meal operation efficiency and effectiveness. The proposal would make more than 24,000 schools, serving more than 12 million children, no longer eligible to participate in CEP. This would increase child hunger in the classroom, bring stigma back into the cafeteria, lead to school meal debt, and make it more difficult for working families to make ends meet.
These proposed cuts are not only a bad idea; they would have devastating consequences for people’s health, our communities, and our economy.
FRAC urges Congress to reject these harmful and draconian proposals, and instead, recommit to ending hunger in America and safeguard the health and well-being of individuals, families, and our communities.
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The Food Research & Action Center improves the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing bold and equitable policy solutions. To learn more, visit FRAC.org and follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.
