“Hungrier, Poorer, And Sicker”

Danielle Nierenberg

Danielle Nierenberg 

I’m sad. I’m angry. 

By a margin of just one vote, the United States House of Representatives passed a massive legislation package, championed by President Donald Trump, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The legislation would cut about US$1.5 trillion in federal spending, with a target on programs that provide vital food assistance and healthcare.

After being passed by the House about a week ago, the Bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces a likely weeks- or months-long revision process before a vote there. Simply put, we cannot afford to see this legislation be enacted into law—so it's vital that, as citizen eaters, we raise our voices right now and let our elected officials know where we stand.

“Without exaggeration, Congress is advancing the most devastating attack on food assistance in our lifetime,” Erin McAleer, President & CEO of Project Bread, tells Food Tank. “The American people are already hurting, struggling to keep up with the cost of living and putting food on their tables. … Congress is proposing to add more barriers, to take benefits away from the poorest families, and we need everyone to take action now to stop these harmful attacks on American residents.”

The Bill represents the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history. Over the next decade, US$267 billion would be pulled from SNAP alone, and nearly 11 million people would see some cuts to their ability to access food relief. 

On the healthcare front, the proposal will slash US$625 billion from Medicaid over the next decade, which would kick more than 10 million people off enrollment, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health organization. In some states, like North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, up to one-third of all people with coverage through Obamacare-era Medicaid expansion programs would lose it.

The proposal also calls for strict work requirements for both SNAP and Medicare recipients, which have been shown time and time again to be ineffective and, actually, disproportionately impact middle-aged and older women.

“There is no doubt that the SNAP cuts in the House Budget Bill will increase the number of people facing food insecurity and hurt those most in need, like older adults, children, people with disabilities and those in low-wage or unstable employment,” Jenique Jones, Executive Director of WhyHunger, tells Food Tank. “The new, stricter work requirements won't boost employment, but will jeopardize the ability of low-wage workers to afford nutritious food and force impossible choices between paying for meals, rent, or medicine for their families.”

Let’s look at just a couple ways this Bill would weaken the food system and hurt Americans experiencing food insecurity:

The Bill freezes updates to the Thrifty Food Plan, defined as “the cost of groceries needed to provide a healthy, budget-conscious diet for a family of four.” This means the model would no longer be adjusted to match food costs at a time when families are already struggling to afford their grocery bills—and would mean SNAP benefits would fail to cover the cost of a modestly priced meal in every county in the U.S., per an Urban Institute analysis.

The Bill puts school nutrition programs in jeopardy. If families’ SNAP eligibility is revoked, their children may lose automatic certification for free or reduced-price school meals, which means a higher administrative burden on already-overworked parents, guardians, and school staff that could cause kids to fall through the cracks. 

And the Bill shifts some responsibility for SNAP to states in unprecedented ways, which fractures and weakens the program. 

“The Bill would for the first time require states to cover some of the SNAP benefit costs and increase the state contribution to state administrative costs from 50 to 75 percent, which states cannot afford,” Crystal FitzSimons, President of the Food Research and Action Center, tells Food Tank. “The Congressional Budget Office expects that these increased costs would lead some states to reduce benefit levels or limit eligibility, and some states might even pull out of SNAP completely.”

McAleer of Project Bread said: “We’ve heard from callers to our FoodSource Hotline who are worried about applying for SNAP in this political climate, even as legally present immigrants eligible to apply for benefits. We’ve spoken with a parent whose son is sick and needs specific foods—but she’s not eligible for SNAP now even though she qualified for pandemic-era expanded benefits. We’ve connected with so many people who are trying to build their lives, careers, and families and running up against barrier after barrier along the way.”

Now, after being passed by the House of Representatives, the Bill heads to the Senate for revision and a vote. I’m hopeful we’ll see some changes in the right direction—especially since the Bill has faced criticisms from policymakers on both sides of the aisle—but I want to speak directly to Senators, especially those on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Nonpartisan, bipartisan, and independent groups agree: This Bill is bad news. 

Economically, it’s nonsense. Over the next decade, the proposal would add more than USD$2.5 trillion to the federal debt, a nonpartisan research group found—despite claiming to accomplish the complete opposite, and at a time when the country’s national debt is already causing problems for the global economy. 

Socially, it’s misguided. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan agency within the federal government itself, the Bill would actively take resources away from the bottom one-tenth and put them into the hands of the wealthiest one-tenth. You can read their report for yourself.

And politically, this legislation is not just destructive to hard-working families and communities; it’s downright un-American.

“If a foreign adversary were trying to weaken the United States, it could not do better than to implement the cuts in (this) budget Bill that will undermine the nutrition, health, and strength of an entire generation,” Billy Shore, Founder and Executive Director of Share Our Strength, tells Food Tank. “Until now, SNAP has enjoyed bipartisan support because it was good for children, families, farmers, and the economies of communities across every part of the country.  Making it harder for families to cope with rising food costs hurts Americans at home, and weakens American competitiveness around the world.”

Now is the time for citizen eaters to rise up and make our voices heard in Congress! Find your elected officials, especially those representing you in the Senate, and make sure they listen to Congresswoman Angie Craig of Minnesota when she says the budget Bill “will make America hungrier, poorer and sicker.”

I’m planning to do the same, both personally and using the resources behind us at Food Tank. Please be in touch with me at danielle@foodtank.com so we can help amplify your voices and ensure our elected officials prioritize healthy, nourished communities!

(Danielle Nierenberg is the President of Food Tank and can be reached at danielle@foodtank.com)