ICYMI: Children Worry Their Families Can’t Afford Food After Trump’s SNAP Cuts
Key Point: “In Texas, a 6-year-old stood in front of her family’s refrigerator, hoping food would magically appear. In Delaware, an 11-year-old wondered why her family could no longer afford Cinnamon Toast Crunch. In New Jersey, four siblings wanted their mother to buy groceries — but she had to tell them she couldn’t. Across America, the government’s policies are making children hungry. … The Trump administration has unleashed a crisis, removing a critical lifeline for many struggling parents and alarming their children, who are asking for food their parents can’t afford.”
NBC News: ‘Mom, are we OK?’ Children worry their families can’t afford food after Trump’s SNAP cuts
By Elizabeth Chuck
- In Texas, a 6-year-old stood in front of her family’s refrigerator, hoping food would magically appear. In Delaware, an 11-year-old wondered why her family could no longer afford Cinnamon Toast Crunch. In New Jersey, four siblings wanted their mother to buy groceries — but she had to tell them she couldn’t. Across America, the government’s policies are making children hungry.
- Some parents said they have tried to hide what’s happening. The mother in New Jersey didn’t tell her children that she had been eating ice to save food for them. In Texas, the 6-year-old didn’t know that her mom had been losing weight. […]
- The White House said the aim was to crack down on food stamp fraud while “preserving SNAP for the truly needy.” Instead, the Trump administration has unleashed a crisis, removing a critical lifeline for many struggling parents and alarming their children, who are asking for food their parents can’t afford. […]
- For households on SNAP, unexpectedly losing benefits — even temporarily — can be catastrophic. Families say they are prioritizing groceries over other essentials, causing a ripple effect: a utility bill that can’t be paid, resulting in gas being shut off in a household with two young children. A car with a broken engine that’s too expensive to fix, leaving a family without transportation. Ballooning credit card debt to pay for what’s often hard to find at food pantries — meat, fish, fresh produce.
- Damarys Mejia, the New Jersey mother who had been trying to ignore her hunger by eating ice, received over $900 a month from SNAP until she said the state didn’t call for her scheduled renewal interview and cut off her benefits for July. … While food pantries have helped with staples, her children don’t understand why their kitchen shelves are bare.
- “Sometimes they cry,” she said. “They have a meltdown. But I try to teach them, this is the way life works.” […]
- When Candace Myers’ husband lost his tech job last year, the Georgia father struggled with his physical and mental health and was unable to work. […] After the work requirements took effect earlier this year, the state removed the entire family from SNAP. […]
- Myers said her kids know the family’s budget is tight. One is walking dogs to earn money. Another is looking for deals at dollar stores. […]
- Campos’ 6-year-old, who often opens the empty refrigerator to check for food, misses noodles, her favorite Chinese dish, though she recently had them as a treat on her birthday. Campos’ 13-year-old daughter misses the seaweed snacks the family used to be able to afford.
- “We struggle with money,” the teen said quietly when asked about the last couple of months, “and we don’t have food.”
REMINDER: Democrats opposed these cruel cuts to food assistance and continue fighting to lower costs, protect critical programs that families rely on, and make life more affordable. Democratic candidates are also holding Republicans fully accountable for taking food and healthcare away from families, jacking up everyday costs, and making life more expensive.
