CHARITIES CANNOT PICK UP SLACK IF SNAP IS CUT

The House Agriculture Committee-passed version of the Farm Bill would end SNAP benefits for three million people, reduce benefits for 850,000 households, and cancel free lunches for 210,000 children. Charities would not be able to step in and feed those who lose or have their benefits reduced, writes Emily Cox in the Staunton News Leader. According to a Bread for the World report, the 2010 Farm Bill would have cost every congregation in the country $50,000 a year – for the next 10 years – to feed those affected by SNAP cuts. The federal government provides the equivalent of 23 bags of food for every one bag provided by a church food pantry. And many churches running food pantries are stretched to the limit.

Source: Staunton (VA) News Leader, 5/26/13, Charity Not Enough