City social service officials fight to protect SNAP benefits for New Yorkers in need of food

November 26, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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NYC AND NATIONWIDE — CITY GOVERNMENT AND LOCAL ANTI-HUNGER ORGANIZATIONS are fighting possible cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that would affect almost two million people statewide who rely on the funding to help pay for groceries, according to Gothamist. House Republicans have already pushed a version of the Farm Bill – with the clock ticking on Congress’ lame-duck session – that would limit SNAP over time.

Even with Democrats’ pushback, the concern is the legislators’ willingness to renew SNAP funding through the federal Farm Bill before a new Congress convenes in January, when both the Senate and the House of Representatives will have a Republican majority. “SNAP is a really essential benefit and it’s critical that we maintain it for the well-being of those who depend on it to feed their families every day,” Molly Wasow Park, the commissioner of the city Department of Social Services, told Gothamist.

An estimated 1.9 million New Yorkers often or sometimes did not get enough to eat this year, based on answers to recent Census Bureau surveys, according to a report on food insecurity from Hunger Free America. This represents a 76% increase from the same period in 2021.

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