Today’s markup must consider child nutrition at home and abroad
The House Agriculture Committee will begin considering a bill later today that will leave millions of children hungry at home and around the world.
Today’s markup of the current Farm Bill will not include language to delay the enormous cost-shift to the states that H.R. 1 imposed on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“Sixteen million kids rely on SNAP,” said Chad Bolt, First Focus Campaign for Children’s senior vice president for economic security. “They need Congress to delay this incredible burden, which will force deep cuts to SNAP starting later this year. If the Ag Committee were serious about reducing childhood hunger, it would take meaningful steps to ensure that SNAP continues to serve the children and families who need it. Instead, lawmakers are ignoring the imminent funding crisis that they have inflicted on states. And to make it all worse, they also are allowing the Administration to end the only national report that helps policymakers understand the extent of childhood hunger. Hungry kids do not make the nation stronger.”
The Farm Bill under consideration will also govern international food security programs including Food for Peace and the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program, which are under threat. Food for Peace, which was administered under USAID until the Trump Administration dissolved the agency last year, will move to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
“As Food for Peace moves to USDA, Congress must ensure the preservation of its lifesaving humanitarian mission, its flexibility in local contexts, its investment in the long-term resilience of affected communities and the prioritization of nutritious food for children,” said Leila Nimatallah, First Focus Campaign for Children’s vice president of advocacy. “Congress also must require the Administration to fully implement McGovern-Dole international school feeding programs, which are crucial to providing nutritious meals to vulnerable children.”
Despite strong bipartisan Congressional support for the program, last year the Trump Administration terminated McGovern-Dole projects in more than 11 countries, leaving close to 800,000 children without their only meal of the day.
First Focus Campaign for Children urges the House of Representatives to reject this bill when it comes before them, and to instead move legislation that ensures children and their families have the support they need to afford groceries and put food on the table.