Sanders calls on House to pass farm bill to prevent more cuts to food assistance programs

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called cuts to federal emergency hunger programs "unconscionable" on Tuesday.

He said the cuts have resulted in a 50 percent reduction in food supplies for Vermont food banks, which help working families, the elderly, children and the homeless.

"At a time when many Vermonters are struggling to make ends meet, many low-income households — including working families, the elderly and children — rely on emergency food shelves for short-term hunger relief," Sanders said at a news conference in his home state.

In a news release Tuesday, Sanders said the U.S. Department of Agriculture Emergency Food Assistance Program has experienced deep cuts in discretionary allotments, causing shortages in food assistance across the country.

"It is simply unacceptable that in this day and age, Vermont children go to bed hungry,” Sanders said. “And, it is unconscionable that the federal government would cut back on food and nutrition assistance to states as our nation struggles to recover from the worst recession since the Great Depression.”

Sanders also warned that more cuts to food assistance programs could come unless the House passes the Senate-passed farm bill, which funds many other federal food assistance programs, such as food stamps, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and the School Lunch Program.

Sanders said the cuts are coming at a time when hunger is at an all-time high in the United States. He cited a report that said last year, almost 45 million people — or one in every seven Americans — received food stamps, more than at any other time in the country’s history.

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