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The Farm Bill – America’s number one defense against hunger – is up for re-authorization, and the current draft of the legislation will take food off the tables of our most vulnerable neighbors and replace it with punitive and bureaucratic rules that ignore the realities of Ohio’s families.

As people of faith, we are called to love our neighbors. That love is not conditional on age, intelligence, employment or marital status. As people of faith, we know it is not enough to pray for somebody who is hungry, but we are called to make sure they have access to their daily bread. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has a long history of effective and efficient assistance to help families with children, the disabled, and seniors in our grocery store lines. The proposed changes will impose

Additional work requirements for adults in there 50's (currently adults over 49 are exempted from work requirements).
Additional work requirements on parents of young children once they begin school. (Regardless of the needs of the child).
Month-to-month deadlines with punitive sanctions. (Currently people have three months to meet work requirements after applying).

The end result, hunger will become more severe for families struggling to get by.

As people of faith, we want a farm bill that supports families when they fall on hard times. Most SNAP recipients are already working, but with unpredictable or seasonal offerings, a lack of sick time, and low wages, these jobs might not meet the new stringent requirements. Those who are not working are often caring for a family member (child or parent), disabled, or cannot find work in their community. Low and middle-income families do not have the resources to easily handle emergency situations. The new month-to-month reporting rules will establish new bureaucratic barriers for those in need to get food assistance for their family when they need it most.

As people of faith, we want a farm bill that is pro-family. Nutrition assistance allows families to purchase the things they need. Parents know whether their kid prefers apples or bananas and SNAP makes sure they can go to the local grocery store (boosting the local economy) and purchase it. The current proposal will cut the resources available to parents of young children in elementary school.

As people of faith, we want our neighbors to have dignity. We want an economy that works for everyone and offers good paying jobs. We support efforts to connect those struggling to get by with meaningful employment opportunities, but this bill doesn't invest to accomplish that! A person feels good when they are able to put in a days work and come home to put a nice dinner on the table. However, This proposal does NOT help with that, instead it will just take food off that table and leave stomachs empty that night.

Nutrition is essential for health, nutrition is essential for education, and nutrition is essential for strong communities. Please support a strong farm bill that puts people first!