GBFB Goes to Washington

Nearly 1,500 anti-hunger advocates gathered in Washington D.C. from Feb. 25-27 for the annual National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, co-sponsored by Feeding America and the Food & Research Action Center.

This year, three Team Members from The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) joined with other food banks, public health and legal organizations, and government agencies to learn about national efforts to end hunger and strategies for effective advocacy on behalf of our neighbors in need.

Federal Budget and the Farm Bill

Conference workshops and speaker sessions focused on the impending reauthorization of the Farm Bill—the major legislation that funds most federal food and agriculture programs.

This is a critical year for protecting federal assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation’s largest anti-hunger program, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which provides staple food items to low-income seniors.

The president’s 2019 budget proposal threatens deeps cuts and structural changes to SNAP and CSFP. Congress will debate these proposals in the Farm Bill, which is due for reauthorization in September 2018. Many advocates are concerned that the House version, which is expected to be released in March, will contain cuts and stricter work requirements for SNAP, reducing access to this vital resource and increasing hunger across the country.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, addressed conference attendees on Monday afternoon to reiterate that “SNAP works” and there should be no SNAP cuts, structural changes, block grants, or new hurdles to accessing healthy food in the Farm Bill.

Lobby Day – Tuesday, Feb. 27^th

The conference concluded with a Lobby Day on Capitol Hill. GBFB team members met with the Massachusetts delegation to Congress: Rep. Michael Capuano and staff from Sen. Ed Markey, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Katherine Clark, Rep. Bill Keating, Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Rep. Stephen Lynch, Rep. Seth Moulton, Rep. Richard Neal, and Rep. Nikki Tsongas’s offices to ask them to stand against proposals to cut our federal anti-hunger programs.

Read more about conference session here.