On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a long-awaited Farm Bill that will preserve crop subsidies, but cut food stamps, causing many Latino families to lose the primary source for feeding their families.
“I know many of my colleagues would just like this whole farm bill issue to go away. They want to pass a bill and forget about it and move on to something else, but … the people that will be hurt by this bill aren’t going away,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., “This bill will make hunger worse in America, not better.”
According to a 2012 Pew Research Center Survey, 22 percent of Latinos have relied on food stamps at some point, slightly more than the 18 percent rate for Americans in general. The bill will be cutting approximately $800 million a year from the food stamps program which will undoubtedly have a big effect on Latinos.
Republicans claim the reason behind the cuts is to ultimately save money and scale back on benefits that do not have the funds to support it. These cuts in the end will reduce spending by $23 billion over the next decade.
Though the spending will be reduced, families who would be affected by these particular cuts would have to figure out how to put food on their family’s table. The bill now moves over to the Senate where it is expected to be voted on as early as next week.
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