SNAP support is vital

GUEBERT, from pg. 3 believe delaying the debt fight until 2024, a presidential election year, is a good idea.

There’s another new reason, too: Nearly every farm and commodity group — even the most politically conservative of them — keenly understands it must give SNAP its fullthroated support if farmers hope to influence a favorable 2023 Farm Bill.

That simple fact was on display “at a farm bill listening session” in “an upstate New York district” April 14 where, reported Politico, “local farmers, food bank operators and anti-hunger advocates urged lawmakers to defend and even expand current

SNAP programs.”

Importantly, one of the witnesses was the “vice president of the New York branch of the American Farm Bureau Federation” who “told the lawmakers… not to think of SNAP as a ‘city thing,’ noting that the program is a key lifeline to low-income Americans in rural areas where food insecurity ‘is higher than it’s ever been.’”

That’s wise advice for any wannabe successful politician — Republican or Democrat.

The Farm and Food File is published weekly through the United States and Canada. Past columns, events and contact information are posted at www. farmandfoodfile.com. v