Yesterday the Senate passed two bills that will fund programs for unemployed and low-income families that will be financed in part with money from the SNAP (food stamp) budget. These programs, while urgently needed, are unacceptable gambles against the health and well-being of our nation's children, as The Daily News and the Food Research & Action Center point out.
The mothers of Witnesses to Hunger teach us that SNAP is the most important of the anti-povert and nutrition programs. As this New York Times editorial points out, congress is now turning to the food stamp budget "like an all-purpose A.T.M." While the legislation passed is very important, we must agree that "treating food stamps as the fungible means to worthy ends is a cowardly blight on Congress."