“The rent, their mobile-phone service, doesn’t change, but the amount of support they have to buy food goes away... They have to scale back the type of food or the amount of food they’re buying.”
This article caught my eye 1) because I love Kraft boxed mac and cheese (no, not #sponsored but Kraft Heinz... I'm game if you are!) and 2) I found it fascinating that major food retailers noticed/attributed a decline in sales to the end of increased SNAP benefits.
Food isn't a privilege, yet our clients are often forced to treat it as such. You can't decrease the amount you pay in rent (if only!), nor can you change the cost of gas or bus fare to get you to your job.
But you can skip a meal. You can opt for the cheapest bread or rice over fresh produce, because the former is a lot more filling and frankly, your kids are more likely to eat it.
Food is a line item that families have control over when so much else is out of their hands, but they’re often forced to make difficult decisions. Resources like SNAP help return the agency that so many of our neighbors lose due to financial instability.
Plus, SNAP benefits are considered one of the fastest and most effective forms of economic stimulus. SNAP spending creates hundreds of thousands of jobs, and every $5 in benefits generates $9 in total economic activity. So if you need an economic reason to support a robust social safety net, know that SNAP policy affects us all; not just the folks who receive assistance.
https://lnkd.in/eUyvQT3t
