Press Releases

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright will take on the SNAP Challenge this Wednesday, limiting himself to $4.50 for a day’s worth of food.  This is the current average daily benefit for a recipient of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as “food stamps.”

Cartwright will participate in the SNAP Challenge on Wednesday, June 19^th and will keep a record on Twitter and Facebook.

“SNAP is a lifeline for millions of Americans families who cannot afford to eat without this meek assistance,” said Cartwright.  “That’s why the proposal by House Republican Leadership to slash funding for SNAP is so inconceivable.  As a practicing Catholic, my faith informs this issue.  I am guided by a moral vision of how we must treat the most vulnerable members of our society.  Isaiah 58:10 says “If you offer compassion to the hungry and satisfy your famished neighbor, then your light will shine in darkness.”

His spare diet coincides with consideration of the House Farm Bill, authored by Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK), which cuts $20 billion from SNAP.  This bill will eliminate food assistance to nearly two million low-income Americans, and shuts 210,000 children out of free or reduced-cost school meals.

“We need Congress to understand what these harsh austerity measures mean on a personal level rather than a budgetary numbers analysis, which is why I’m taking the day to walk in someone else’s shoes and understand what it means to live off of the average SNAP recipient’s $4.50 a day,” said Cartwright.

Nearly 75% of the country's 47 million SNAP recipients are families with children, and more than a quarter of SNAP recipients are households with seniors or people with disabilities.  Under the House Farm Bill, 850,000 households would lose an average of $90—nearly a full week’s worth of groceries—per month.

Cartwright was sworn into office on January 3^rd of this year.