5.1 million more hungry Americans by the end of 2013?
We've been writing about issues in Congress and asking people to let their members of Congress know how they feel. Well, Congress is in recess for the summer now, but before they left town they gave us an even better reason to give them a call. Congress did not reauthorize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which most people still refer to as “food stamps,” before they left for vacation. This is a vital program that puts food on the table for millions of poor families, mostly providing meals to poor single moms and their kids. It must be reauthorized by the beginning of the fiscal year 2013-14 year, on October 1, or authority for SNAP ends. SNAP has historically been part of the omnibus farm bill, which protected both farm supports favored by rural members and food stamps favored by members representing urban or rural poorer areas. Year after year farm bills with food stamps have been approved overwhelmingly in Congress, typically without much delay. B...