Defending SNAP

The Republicans' budget will cause children to go hungry.

In 1968, CBS News aired a documentary called Hunger in America. Its harrowing footage—children with swollen bellies, families scraping by without meals—shocked the nation. It exposed a brutal truth: millions of Americans were going hungry every day, especially in rural and low-income urban communities.

Back then, chronic malnutrition was common among children, seniors, and working-class families, particularly in the South and Appalachia. While data was imprecise, experts estimate that 10 million Americans lived in severe hunger. One study found that 1 in 3 families in the Mississippi Delta had no reliable access to food. Half of all Navajo children were clinically malnourished. In some areas, infant mortality rates were three times the national average.

Doctors reported children suffering from kwashiorkor and marasmus—diseases usually seen in famine zones.

This was not a temporary crisis. And it was not inevitable.

It was the direct result of political neglect and systemic poverty. And it forced America to act.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon convened the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health. From that conference came a dramatic expansion of food assistance programs, including the Food Stamp Program, later renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Last week, Republicans voted to cut it.

Defending SNAP

For about $160 per taxpayer per year, SNAP helps over 41 million Americans afford food, lifts millions of children out of poverty, and strengthens local economies.

Key Facts:

• Feeds 1 in 8 Americans, including:

  • 22 million children

  • 5 million seniors

  • 1 million veterans

• Reduces child poverty by 20%

• Improves health and education outcomes

• Every $1 in SNAP generates $1.50–$1.80 in local economic activity

And while SNAP costs about $119 billion/year, Trump’s tax cuts for millionaires cost $380 billion/year—more than triple the price tag.

What the Cuts Mean

To help pay for a $4 trillion tax cut for the rich, Republicans are slashing SNAP. The result?

• Nearly 11 million people risk losing food assistance

• The average benefit drops from $6.20 to $4.80 per day

• That’s a 22% cut to already stretched grocery budgets

• Families will face impossible choices: food or rent, food or medicine

Millions will be kicked off. Millions more will be left with too little to eat.

All so billionaires can get another tax break.

How to Talk About This

Let’s be clear: SNAP works.

• For every $1 spent, we get $1.50 back in economic activity

• Fraud rate: less than 1.5%

• Admin costs: among the lowest of any federal program

So this isn’t about waste. It’s not about fiscal responsibility. This is a political choice. And a moral failure.

$4 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy. 11 million Americans go hungry.

This isn’t austerity. It’s theft—from the working class to the ultra-rich.

Families will go hungry. Medical costs will rise. Children will suffer.

This is the Republican agenda. This is Trump’s America.

Sources:

https://www.chn.org/voices/human-needs-watch-mar-17-2025/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.the-sun.com/money/13559688/walmart-kroger-costco-snap-cuts-trump-government-spending/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/medicaid-and-food-stamps-are-easy-targets-house-bill-makes-unprecedented-cuts-to-medicaid-and-snap-2165114d?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://www.eater.com/2025/5/22/24435230/food-stamps-cuts-snap-economic-policy-trump-farm-bill?utm_source=chatgpt.comhttps://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5316940-trump-bill-fiscal-concerns-republicans/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/28/donald-trump-response-elon-musk-tax-bill-comments/83901171007/
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-tax-cuts-will-cost-americans-rcna208852
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5320723-congressional-republicans-tax-spending-cut/
https://www.budget.senate.gov/chairman/newsroom/press/extending-trump-tax-cuts-would-add-46-trillion-to-the-deficit-cbo-finds
https://thehill.com/business/budget/5308446-trump-gop-bill-medicaid-salt-taxes/
https://www.pgpf.org/article/full-array-of-republican-tax-cuts-could-add-9-trillion-to-the-national-debt/