The Farm Bill that will likely win support from the House this week would cut $20.5 billion from the food stamp program over 10 years, taking almost 2 million recipients off the food stamp rolls, as estimated by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Because members of low-income working families with children who benefit from school lunch and breakfast programs would be affected by those cuts, Tampa-area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor was joined by Hillsborough County School District head MaryEllen Elia at Tampa Bay Elementary in West Tampa to decry the House proposal.
"Food stamps were very important during the economic recession because people lost their jobs and the last thing you want is for a child to go hungry, show up to school with having breakfast and lunch, so SNAP provided that safety net for children all across this community," Castor said Monday morning as kindergarten students entered into the cafeteria behind her for their lunch period.
This article appears in Jun 13-19, 2013.