“Federal Food Assistance Programs Sustain Families” Statement from the Public Health Institute on SNAP Funding

Statement from the Public Health Institute on SNAP Funding

“Every day, our teams at the Public Health Institute work with and in communities across this country—from rural towns to urban centers, in schools, health institutions, and neighborhood organizations. We provide nutrition education, support community-led food initiatives, and witness firsthand how federal food assistance programs sustain families. We urge federal policymakers to swiftly restore full SNAP funding. The families and communities we serve cannot afford further delay.

“SNAP funding is not just a bargaining chip in budget negotiations. It is dinner tables. It is children trying to concentrate in school while their stomachs ache with hunger. It is parents lying awake at night, uncertain where their family’s next meal will come from. It is the elderly neighbor choosing between medication and groceries. These are not statistics—they are our neighbors, our children’s classmates, members of our communities.

“We see the immediate and devastating consequences of not having a budget ripple through the populations we serve. Food insecurity doesn’t just mean missed meals; it means compromised immune systems, worsening chronic diseases, developmental delays in children, and the erosion of family stability. We document these impacts. We measure them. We counsel the families living through them.

“The Public Health Institute applauds the governors and state legislators who have taken emergency action to bridge the gap created by federal inaction. But state resources cannot substitute for sustained federal commitment. SNAP is a federal program for a reason—hunger and food insecurity do not respect state boundaries, and millions of Americans depend on consistent, reliable access to quality nutrition.”