Federal budget cuts could add to LI’s food struggles

Long Islanders overwhelmingly report that food costs are rising faster than their incomes. More than half of area residents say they’re adding debt, such as on credit cards, just to pay for food, according to a recent survey by No Kid Hungry, a nonprofit focused on child hunger. Threatened tariffs could bump up prices even more. 

The tens of thousands of Long Islanders who receive federal food assistance are at particular risk, as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans consider cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a program commonly known as food stamps. An estimated 8.5% of Suffolk County’s households and 5.7% of Nassau’s — nearly 70,000 households in all — relied on SNAP benefits in 2023, the highest percentages in more than a decade.

The budget resolution passed by the House asks the Committee on Agriculture to make cuts of $230 billion, much of which could impact SNAP. Among them are reductions to the Thrifty Food Plan, the model used to establish SNAP benefits. By rolling back recent updates to the model, federal officials would reduce the maximum SNAP benefits to the point where they don’t meet the cost of groceries. An analysis published this week by the Urban Institute think tank showed that in Nassau and Suffolk, the cuts would mean what it calls a “modestly priced” meal would cost 75% more than the maximum SNAP benefit — an added cost for consumers already teetering on the edge.

Even as debates rage in Washington on issue after issue, there should be no debate over food insecurity. Long Island’s congressional representatives, particularly Republican Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota, who are in the chamber’s majority and represent almost all of Suffolk County where the needs are greatest, must stop cuts to SNAP and other related funding streams. Also at risk are summer meals for children, WIC initiatives geared to women, infants and children, and programs for the elderly, such as the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program and social services block grants that fund efforts like Meals on Wheels. 

Staffing cuts threatened for the U.S. Department of Agriculture also should be rethought. For all the talk of fraud and abuse, cutting employees dedicated to oversight and accountability makes little sense.

The threat of federal reductions underscores the importance of New York’s own efforts, particularly Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to fund universal school meals, which would provide every student statewide with free school breakfast and lunch. The laudable goal has bipartisan support in Albany, and becomes more critical with federal cuts poised to unfairly shift to the state a larger burden for helping the less fortunate. 

There is still time to get this right. LaLota and Garbarino should lead the way in protecting their constituents from efforts to destroy the programs they need. Amid the many battles being waged, this is one worth fighting.