Earlier this week, the Trump Administration proposed to cut SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits for up to 6.3 million Americans, set to take place in 2029. A potential two million children would also be barred from receiving free school meals under this proposal. This proposal specifically targets families who receive both SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which includes support like childcare subsidies and employment training. The Trump administration is attempting to limit overlap between the two programs, despite high inflation and stagnant wages making it impossible for some families to meet their needs even with SNAP and TANF support.
Cuts to SNAP and other government benefits have strained charity and volunteer-run services. For example, St. Mary’s food bank in Arizona, the world’s first modern food bank, provides 300,000 meals a day and has seen demand for its services rise 10% every year since 2020. They state that the previous SNAP recipients cut under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, working people paid low wages, and seniors whose Social Security payments cannot keep up with inflation are increasingly turning to its services to survive. St. Mary’s is currently dipping into its savings to stay afloat and support people in need, but they say that this is unsustainable in the long term. Similar trends are appearing across the country as the cost-of-living crisis grows increasingly severe.
Some state that not providing meals to working people and children is “un-American,” but it is actually perfectly logical under American capitalism – programs designed to support the most vulnerable in our society are gutted, and the funds are redirected to billionaires, corporations, and the military. People are not “taking advantage” of the system by relying on assistance programs, the ruling class is taking advantage of us by not paying people a living wage! Their profits, and the society that we live in, can’t exist without our labor; it’s up to us to create a world run in our own interests!
