Foodlink President & CEO Julia Tedesco joined Sen. Chuck Schumer and local faith leaders at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester on Tuesday to speak out against harmful, proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
By a one-vote margin, the House passed a bill last week that would slash nearly $300 billion from SNAP over the next decade. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Sen. Schumer and his colleagues are expected to negotiate a new version of the bill.
More than 155,000 residents in Foodlink’s 10-county service area receive SNAP benefits, according to the latest caseload statistics from the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. New data also shows food insecurity on the rise, with a local food insecurity rate of 12.8% — the equivalent of 160,000 people.
“The devastating SNAP cuts proposed in the House bill will take away billions of meals for some of our nation’s most vulnerable residents — and impact the health of our seniors, educational opportunities for our youth and the economic prosperity of our country,” Tedesco said. “At a time when food-insecurity rates are high and visits to local food pantries spiked 40% last year, Foodlink and our partners simply cannot fill the gap with a SNAP reduction of this magnitude. We call on Congress to oppose these cuts to ensure the health and wellbeing of our neighbors during these challenging times.”
FACEBOOK: View more photos from the media event with Sen. Schumer
Local faith leaders speaking out against the proposed SNAP cuts on Tuesday included: Pastor Tedd Pullano of Third Presbyterian Church, Pastor Doug Stewart of The Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word, Sister Beth LeValley of Sisters of St. Joseph, and Father Bob Werth of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Parish. Third Presbyterian is a Foodlink member food pantry who has seen their neighbors skyrocket in the past year.
Sen. Schumer also invited a Curbside Market Ambassador, Doreen Young, to speak about the bill’s negative impact on her grocery budget and her neighbors’ well-being. Young lives in Plymouth Gardens apartments, and sees firsthand how SNAP benefits help people eat healthier.
“Any plan that takes away food from people like me, or families dealing with soaring cost of living, makes no sense,” Young said. “If people are struggling now, I can only imagine what will happen if this bill is passed.”
The House bill seeks to reduce the cost of SNAP by reducing enrollment through a variety of proposed changes, such as expanded work requirements for older adults and parents, and shifting some administrative and benefits costs to the states. Sen. Schumer said New York would not have the capacity to absorb this massive increase in expenses.
“Trump already canceled 24 truckloads of U.S. farm-grown food headed to hungry families in Rochester, and these cuts would be a double whammy,” Schumer said. “This is not a partisan issue, it is a moral issue. I’m here with our food banks, faith leaders, and farmers on the frontlines to stand up to protect these programs and stop this cruel cut to SNAP.”
