The U.S. House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a deeply harmful bill that would gut more than $1 trillion from life-saving programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid—programs that help millions of children, seniors, veterans, and families put food on the table and access critical health care.
At a time when food prices are soaring and millions are struggling to make ends meet, these cuts would rip away the safety net just when it’s needed most. We can’t let this happen. Now is the time to raise your voice. Tell your representative: Protect SNAP. Protect Medicaid. Protect our neighbors.
Join us in our efforts to protect these critical programs by taking action with us! Here are 3 ways you can help:
Call Your Elected Officials
Reach out to your elected officials to tell them how important SNAP and Medicaid are to our local community and our country.
Call the Congressional Switchboard at 202.224.3121 and ask for your Senators’ and/or Representative’s office.
If you do not know the name of your lawmaker, you can use these websites to find contact information for your U.S. Senator or Representative.
Here is a script that you can use to help guide your call.
Intro
I’m a constituent and am calling/emailing to request that [Senator /Representative] oppose the deep cuts to SNAP and Medicaid that Congress is considering.
Content [share any or all of the messages below that resonate most with you]
- SNAP is the nation’s largest and most effective federal hunger program, providing timely, targeted and short-term food benefits for people facing food insecurity.
- These cuts will take away food and healthcare from seniors, children, people with disabilities, veterans and working families at a time when food insecurity in America is at its highest rate in over a decade.
- SNAP touches people in every county in America, helping stabilize families struggling to make ends meet and supporting local grocery stores and farmers.
- Approximately 2/3 of people on SNAP cannot work because they are children, seniors, the disabled, or a caregiver for a child or person with a disability. Cuts to SNAP will disproportionately harm our most vulnerable.
- SNAP is incredibly efficient, providing grocery benefits so families can go to their local grocery store to purchase the food that their families need.
- SNAP benefits are already modest: an average of just $6 a day per person. But that investment helps children learn, seniors live independently and workers stay healthy.
- SNAP also drives local economies. In rural communities, in particular, every SNAP dollar generates nearly $1.80 in economic activity.
- The bill requires states to pay for a portion of SNAP food benefit costs, abandoning the 50-year, bi-partisan commitment to ensure that poor children get the help they need, no matter what state they live in. My state does not have the resources to absorb these costs and would be forced to reduce SNAP benefits, restrict participation, or both, further intensifying food insecurity in my state.
- Reducing essential food and health care supports increases demand on food banks and food pantries when they are already operating at full capacity and cannot meet any additional need.
- The charitable sector simply cannot fill the gap created by cuts this deep. For every one meal that a food bank provides, SNAP provides 9.
Conclusion
Please vote “no” on SNAP and Medicaid cuts. Cutting these life-saving programs that help people meet these basic needs will lead to a hungrier, sicker America.
Sign on with Harvesters
Please sign on to the letter below so we can show our elected officials how much our community cares about these programs. Harvesters will be sending updates with our list of supporters who sign on to our elected officials daily.
Dear [Elected Official]
We are writing today as your constituents and a concerned members of our community to urge you to reject the harmful provisions included in the House budget reconciliation legislation that would reduce funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid. When these programs are strong, they help families in our region get the resources they need – cuts would mean individuals will face even more challenges to put food on the table and access health care.
With nearly 50 million Americans facing food insecurity—the highest level in over a decade – we need strong federal programs, the charitable food system, and community partners, working together to solve the hunger crisis. Shifting SNAP costs to states would force state governments to reduce benefits, limit eligibility or raise taxes – the opposite of what our neighbors facing hunger say they need to thrive.
SNAP is our nation’s most effective and responsive tool in the fight against hunger. It ensures families, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, expecting families and workers with low or unpredictable incomes can put food on the table during hard times. With food prices out of reach for too many of our neighbors, now is the worst possible time to consider cuts to this life-saving program.
These cuts to SNAP and Medicaid would have devastating consequences to families. Millions of families would lose access to the healthy foods we all need to thrive in the wake of benefit reductions. Medicaid coverage would shrink, leaving people—including children, seniors and people with disabilities—without stable access to health care. As a result, economies will be harmed — grocery stores, clinics and other health care providers would see fewer customers and patients due to food and health care cuts, impacting local economies—particularly in rural areas.
Families across this country are already making impossible choices between paying for food, rent, or medicine. SNAP and Medicaid are vital bridges for people experiencing food insecurity, and now more than ever, we must strengthen—not weaken—our nation’s safety net.
We urge you to stand with your constituents and oppose any cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. Protecting these programs is not just about policy—it is about building better lives for our communities.
Harvesters—The Community Food Network and [Your Name Here]
Give Food, Time, or Money
In addition to giving your voice, you can help by giving food giving food, time, or money to Harvesters or any of our Agency Partners. We must work together to do all we can and continue to provide consistent access to nutritious food for anyone who needs it.
