Kuster Advocates for Granite Staters Experiencing Food Insecurity During Agriculture Committee Hearing

Press Release

oday, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02), a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, participated in a hearing entitled, "A 2022 Review of the Farm Bill: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program." During the hearing, Kuster questioned Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at the Department of Agriculture (USDA), about steps Congress and the administration can take to address food insecurity and expand access to quality, affordable nutrition for families in New Hampshire and across the country.

"The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has a proven track record of mitigating hunger in New Hampshire and saving thousands of families from slipping into poverty. Never was this safety net more necessary than during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Rep. Kuster. "But, we have a lot of work ahead to make nutrition assistance programs like SNAP more accessible for families who qualify. I look forward to working with the USDA as well as my colleagues on this committee to ensure we enact common-sense reforms to SNAP to lift up families across the country so they can thrive."

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as many as approximately 1 in 7 people in New Hampshire are food insecure, meaning they do not know when or where their next meal will come from. Rep. Kuster is working to change that. Last year, she introduced the Streamlining Nutrition Assistance Paperwork Act, legislation to establish permanent program flexibility to help reduce a layer of bureaucracy surrounding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications.

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