April, 02 2021, 12:00am EDT
Advocates Praise USDA's Decision to Increase Emergency SNAP Benefits for Most Vulnerable Americans
$1 billion per month collectively allocated to 25 million food insecure people."Extra aid is a food life preserver."
WASHINGTON
USDA just announced that the agency will be expanding emergency SNAP benefits to households that were previously receiving the maximum benefit allotment, improving food access for 25 million people nationwide through a $1 billion per month increase. Prior to this action, many of the lowest income households that were already receiving the maximum amount of SNAP benefits were excluded from emergency SNAP allocated through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
In response to this administrative action, Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, a nationwide nonpartisan direct service and advocacy organization, said:
"This change will have a tremendous, positive impact on the lives of 25 million people who have been struggling to put food on the table during the last year, and even before the Covid-19 pandemic. This extra aid is a food life preserver for tens of millions at risk of drowning from hunger. Forty percent of these households have children, and Hunger Free America has been advocating for this expansion of emergency SNAP since last year. We applaud USDA for recognizing the importance of this increase for the most vulnerable families, and we thank President Biden, Vice President Harris, and USDA Secretary Vilsack for ordering this change swiftly so that hungry families can afford the food they need and deserve. This latest news proves yet again that not only does government assistance dwarf chartable aid, but that, properly administered, it can also be quicker than charitable assistance."
Hunger Free America is a nonpartisan, national nonprofit group working to enact the policies and programs needed to end domestic hunger and ensure that all Americans have sufficient access to nutritious food.
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