Springfield Food Policy Council Launches National Campaign to Save SNAP

SPRINGFIELD — As threats to the nation’s leading source of food support for struggling families continue, the Springfield Food Policy Council (SFPC) is taking action to protect farmers and children’s access to fresh food.

The SFPC is launching an awareness and advocacy campaign to encourage the passage of a Senate reconciliation bill (the Big Beautiful Bill) that sufficiently funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Proposed cuts to the program, advocates say, would cripple farmers, reduce or eliminate benefits for millions of people, and worsen food insecurity locally and nationally. In Massachusetts and other states, cuts to SNAP will also have dramatic impacts on the provision of free school meals, which is directly tied to SNAP enrollment rates.

Throughout the country, children are being asked to color postcards to illustrate their favorite farm-grown foods. The two-sided informational cards will be sent to U.S. senators in an effort to encourage them to pass a budget that will protect SNAP and those who need it. The Springfield Food Policy Council is supporting early learning centers and elementary schools across the country to launch their own postcard campaigns.

According to Massachusetts Agriculture Commissioner Ashley Randall, the proposed SNAP cuts would harm Massachusetts’ almost 7,000 local farmers and the agricultural economy by removing a critical income stream that flows through farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs, local grocery purchases, and school and early learning center meals. It would cut off benefits to nearly 300,000 children in Massachusetts.

“Too many small farmers across the country who feed children who depend upon SNAP are struggling to survive,” said Liz O’Gilvie of the Springfield Food Policy Council. “This has an enormous trickle-down effect on the well-being of our nation’s children and families. When federal policies fall short, parents are forced to limit their own food intake and often that of their children, which leads to hunger and the trauma and stress that results from that.”