Northwest Harvest Advocates Update: Senate Farm Bill Cuts SNAP

Advocates Update Thursday, June 21       IN THIS ISSUE UPCOMING EVENTS Senate Farm Bill Cuts SNAP Take Action!   UPCOMING EVENTS    August 14, 2:30 - 4:30 pm Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition General Membership Meeting wsahnc.org     October 4 - 5 Washington Food Coalition Annual Conference     wafoodcoalition.org /conference-2012       Northwest Harvest PO Box 12272 Seattle, Washington 98102 800-722-6924 Your Weekly Action Alert Senate Farm Bill Cuts SNAP This week, the Senate passed a Farm Bill that preserves the structure of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) but cuts $4.5 billion from the program. Unfortunately, we can expect to see even deeper cuts to SNAP in the House version of the bill which will be discussed in committee next week.  Read more...      Take Action:   Thank you to each of you who called on Senators Cantwell and Murray to support the Gillibrand amendment that would have restored the billions of dollars cut from SNAP. Your calls were not in vain-we can be proud of our senators who voted for the amendment and therefore advocated for the protection of Washington's low-income families. We ask you to please take a moment to do two things: Please call or email Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell, thanking them for their support of SA 2156, the Gillibrand amendment. Senator Murray co-sponsored this amendment, taking a brave stand to be a leader on an otherwise highly contentious issue. Sen. Patty Murray: murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme Sen. Maria Cantwell:  cantwell.senate.gov/contact/for email form and cantwell.senate.gov/contact/office_locations.cfm for phone numbers    Please contact your U.S. Representative and ask them to protect and strengthen SNAP in the Farm Bill. You can personalize the following message: My name is ___________. I live in your district and work/volunteer at the ______________ (food bank/meal program.) I am calling about the Farm Bill. We hear stories on the news that our economy is recovering but we don't see that at our program. The lines of clients are long, their need is deep, and cuts to SNAP will only increase that need. Food stamps, unlike food banks, generate economic activity because they are used to buy food in stores, allowing grocers, farmers, transport, and warehouse businesses to create jobs. Food stamps keep families healthy so they can work and go to school while meeting the most basic of needs. I am proud of the work that my program does to feed the hungry, but we can't meet the need alone-we need a partnership between charitable giving and public assistance. Protect families-protect and strengthen SNAP. Find your U.S. Representative and their contact information here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/  The mission of Northwest Harvest is to provide nutritious food to hungry people statewide in a manner that respects their dignity, while fighting to eliminate hunger. Our vision is that ample nutritious food is available to everyone in Washington state.

Forward email