“The USDA could use additional funding to make full payments this month, but it’s deliberately chosen not to.”
ICYMI: UFCW Urges USDA Secretary Rollins to Fund Full SNAP Benefits for November
WASHINGTON – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.2 million essential workers across North America, including workers in grocery, retail, meatpacking, and food processing, released the following statement after news that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will comply with a court order to use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) contingency fund and make reduced payments to SNAP recipients.
UFCW International President Milton Jones said:
“Only covering half of a family’s food assistance still leaves them vulnerable to hunger and puts UFCW members at grocery stores, meatpacking plants, and food processing facilities at risk. Any fall in SNAP dollars being spent risks fewer hours and less take-home pay for UFCW members.
“The lack of communication to SNAP recipients also puts an undue burden on UFCW members at grocery stores. When customers try to pay with SNAP, cashiers will be the ones to tell them their balance. They will be the ones who have to tell a family that they don’t have enough to pay for the groceries they’ve picked out.
“The USDA could use additional funding to make full payments this month, but it’s deliberately chosen not to. This interruption in food assistance and the chaos and uncertainty it caused for SNAP recipients and food workers could have been avoided if Secretary Rollins had used the contingency fund proactively, as she was legally obligated to do. SNAP recipients still do not know when they’ll receive their reduced benefits.
“As families try to get by, Thanksgiving is approaching. If families can only cover half of their November grocery bill, how will they be able to celebrate with a full Thanksgiving table? The USDA must use its authority over available nutrition funding to provide full SNAP benefits this month, and Republicans in Congress must work across the aisle to solve the impending health care crisis and end the government shutdown.”
BACKGROUND
- The USDA has the authority to transfer funds from other USDA nutrition programs to fund SNAP. Both judges who ruled on SNAP stated that the USDA can use Section 32 funds from customs receipts and that it was at their discretion. This authority was recently used by the USDA when it transferred money from child nutrition programs to the WIC account to maintain WIC benefits during the shutdown.
- Last week, UFCW sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins, imploring her to use contingency funding and funding for other USDA nutrition programs to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for November.
- In addition to the letter to Secretary Rollins, the UFCW is launching a grassroots effort to demand that members of Congress stand up for food assistance and direct the USDA to release available funding to SNAP.
- SNAP is an economic multiplier. Each $1 spent by SNAP generates between $1.50 and $1.80 in economic activity that is felt throughout the food chain—from farmers and ranchers, to food manufacturers and truckers, to grocers and store employees.
- SNAP is our nation’s largest food assistance program, serving 42 million people and supporting countless jobs along the food supply chain. Any lapse in SNAP funding will have devastating impacts for program beneficiaries and reduce hours and wages for food workers in every state and congressional district in the country.
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The UFCW International is the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.2 million workers and their families in grocery, meatpacking, food processing, healthcare, cannabis, retail, and other essential industries. UFCW members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org.