House Decision to Exclude SNAP from the Farm Bill Affects More Than Half of Latino Families
July 15, 2013
Contact:
Paloma Zuleta, 202-833-6130, PZuleta (at) LULAC . org
Washington, D.C. -
Last week, the House of Representatives, in a 216-208 vote, passed the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013, otherwise known as the Farm Bill. However, in an unprecedented act, the partisan bill provided no provisions to include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps leaving millions of families in danger of facing hunger.
“The SNAP program provides key nutritional assistance for millions of low income Americans, a number of which are Hispanic,” said LULAC National President Margaret Moran. “This form of assistance is critical to families in need particularly during these times of economic hardship.”
SNAP is described as the “first line of defense against hunger” by Food Nutrition Services at the United States Department of Agriculture. In fact, 83% of the funds are directed to households with children, the elderly, and the disabled.
President Moran continued, “The future health of millions of Americans, including a significant number of Latino families, is dependent upon receiving SNAP. Congress must take the necessary steps to reinstate the SNAP provision back into any final legislation.”
About LULAC:
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 900 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org
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