Trump’s threats to SNAP will make things worse for all of us

Weaponizing food assistance is bad policy and bad politics.

There was a massive public outcry when SNAP was at risk of disappearing during the government shutdown in November. But as more of the draconian cuts to SNAP enacted by Congress earlier this year go into effect over the next two years, the disruption to food assistance during the shutdown will seem like a minor inconvenience, a mere spring shower compared to the dark and violent thunderstorm on the horizon. It is estimated that cuts and restrictions will force at least 2 million Americans off of SNAP. Currently SNAP is a nutritional lifeline for 42 million Americans, nearly half of whom are children.

For decades SNAP enjoyed broad bipartisan support, which has only recently unraveled in the face of brute force political pressure and a massive disinformation campaign to rationalize such indiscriminate cruelty. Many myths have been deployed as political artillery aimed at systematically dismantling our nation’s most effective anti-hunger program. Five of the most prominent include:

1. SNAP only benefits those living in poverty. While there are 42 million SNAP recipients, all 350 million U.S. residents are beneficiaries. SNAP helps grow our economy, supporting nearly 390,000 jobs at farms, grocery stores and elsewhere throughout the supply chain.

2. SNAP recipients don’t work. Those who can work are already working. Millions of able-bodied adults have been subject to work requirements for decades. For children, seniors, or those with disabilities who can’t work, SNAP is a common sense, efficient and effective way of ensuring that they can still have food on the table.

3. States can afford to shoulder even more SNAP costs. States already contribute half of the administrative costs. The new law increases that to 75%, and for the first time in the history of SNAP, states may have to share benefit costs. Take a state like Georgia where roughly 1.4 million people, or 13% of the state’s population, participate in SNAP. Starting as early as 2028, it faces an additional $500 million or more to operate SNAP. In talking with Governors about what they plan to do when these bills come due from the federal government, they have been candid in saying “nobody knows.”

4. Undocumented people are accessing SNAP. SNAP is only available to U.S. citizens and certain lawfully present non-citizens, such as some green card holders. Undocumented immigrants have always been explicitly excluded from receiving SNAP benefits. Earlier this year, Congress went further, barring refugees and others from the program.

5. Food banks can make up the difference. The order of magnitude between what SNAP can provide and what food banks can distribute is ludicrous: Feeding America estimates that recent cuts to SNAP could take an estimated 6 billion meals off the tables of Americans living with hunger. That gap will be impossible for the charitable sector to fill on its own.

In addition to my role as founder of Share Our Strength, which runs the national No Kid Hungry campaign to end child hunger in America, I chair a foundation supporting a small food pantry in Maine. When I was at the pantry a few weeks ago, a nicely dressed middle-aged man self-consciously asked me, “I’ve never done this before, how does it work? How much am I allowed to take?” His awkward discomfort was heartbreaking to witness. If the policymakers intent on dismantling SNAP ever stood in a food pantry and observed such a scene, I hope they would be racing to reverse their actions. Or at a minimum, give states and communities more time to prepare.

These cuts will have severe, immediate human consequences. Everything possible must be done to mitigate them. Advocates must continue to fight to restore access to SNAP, but we also can’t lose sight of how unacceptable it is that our economy leaves 42 million Americans needing food assistance in the first place. Especially an economy that includes $8 trillion of wealth in the U.S. public equity market alone.

It takes more than food to fight hunger, and our work is not done until our economy is structured to create economic opportunity for all. Anti-hunger advocates need to think differently moving forward. Playing defense through one crisis after another, while necessary, is also a trap that keeps us from building an economy that truly works for all. We need to get the offense back on the field to address the root causes of why families need food assistance in the first place and to advance economic mobility.

At a time when many divisive issues are fraying America’s political and cultural fabric, fighting hunger should unite us. Our families, communities and nation are stronger when everyone has access to the food they need, and ending hunger continues to be a bipartisan priority with broad support across ideological lines. That’s why continued efforts to weaponize food assistance for political gain will inevitably backfire. Feeding kids and families is fundamental to the future of not just those who receive SNAP, but to all of us.

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Billy Shore is the founder and executive chair of Share Our Strength, the parent organization for the No Kid Hungry campaign. Since founding Share Our Strength in 1984 with his sister Debbie, the organization has raised over $1 billion to fight hunger and poverty and has won the support of national leaders in business, government, health, education, sports and entertainment.