Statement Attributable to Diana Aviv, CEO of Feeding America:
“Feeding America congratulates the winners of yesterday’s election. We urge all of our elected officials on both sides of the aisle, including new and returning to office, to work together to address the needs of the 42 million Americans currently living on the brink of hunger.
“We ask our leaders to keep the federal nutrition safety net strong and intact, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as food stamps), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), the Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Federal nutrition programs like these provide an essential lifeline for children, families, and low-income Americans.
“Ensuring that our neighbors—and everyone who lives in this country—have enough to eat on a daily basis is a basic American value. It is also a responsibility that must be shared by us all.
“The first order of business Congress should face when they reconvene later this month is to pass a strong child nutrition reauthorization bill.
“This legislation will make the strongest improvements to the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) in the program’s 41-year history. Child hunger increases during the summer months because low-income children do not have access to meal assistance when school is out.
“New statistics released by the USDA in September state that 13 million children in America under the age of 18 are food insecure. That’s 13 million children too many. We can make significant progress toward meeting the nutritional needs of those children with bipartisan support for and the passage of new child nutrition legislation.”
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About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs, we provide meals to more than 40 million people each year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.