Loss of Food Assistance Funding Hurts Food Workers

The country’s #1 food assistance program (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) will run out of money on November 1. Thirty-six states have said they won’t have enough money to issue these checks because the federal government is withholding funds.

This means millions of low-income Americans will lose access to food aid, grocery store, meat, and food processing workers will lose hours and jobs, and customers will be left confused and frustrated in check-out lines across America.

Grocery store, meat, and food processing workers should not be left to explain the decisions of the administration and Republicans in Congress.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and the USDA can use the SNAP contingency fund and other USDA nutrition funding to keep this food assistance flowing. They have already done this for farmers, and they can do this for grocery consumers.

SNAP is a vital program that not only protects working families from hunger but also supports jobs for UFCW members in grocery stores, meat, and food processing plants. In fact, 80% of SNAP dollars are spent at traditional grocery stores, which means more hours and higher wages for workers like us!

It's time for your member of Congress to hear directly from you - the essential workers who keep communities fed. Ask your Senators to direct the USDA to take immediate steps to ensure families don’t go hungry.