April 25, 2025 Editor, The News-Gazette: In 2024, 74,765 people in the Sixth District had limited or uncertain access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Two Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs aided this population: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
The first, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is the nation’s most important antihunger program. The second program buys 100% Americangrown food and distributes it to low-income persons through food banks and other community organizations. TEFAP accounts for 20% of the food dispensed to its recipients in Virginia. The Trump administration seeks to reduce funding for both programs.
Among the food-insecure population in the Sixth District, 65% are eligible for SNAP aid, and all are eligible for TEFAP food. In 2023, our representative, Congressman Ben Cline, introduced the “No Welfare for the Wealthy Act” to make it more difficult for food-insecure people to receive SNAP aid. Although the bill failed, Cline continues to support efforts to reduce SNAP and TEFAP funding. His actions put recipients of these programs in a double bind. Loss of SNAP benefits will force them to turn to distribution centers, where they will find food is in short supply due to cuts in funding for TEFAP.
Most recently Cline’s signature was notably absent on a bipartisan letter from Virginia’s members of congress to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins opposing attempts to cancel $500 million in TEFAP funding. It is obvious that Cline fears doing or saying anything offensive to Trump even if it means hurting local farmers and depriving his needy constituents of essential nutrition. FRANK SETTLE Lexington
