As Published by The Courier-Post | Published 9:39 p.m. ET Dec. 26, 2017 — Thanks to the Courier-Post and reporter Celeste Whittaker for shining a spotlight on childhood hunger and the need for food assistance in South Jersey (“Food bank: 57K South Jersey children battle hunger,” Dec. 26).

We applaud the Food Bank of South Jersey for all of its efforts to feed hungry children through summer and afterschool meals. We also know that it takes a coordinated, comprehensive approach to ensure all children have the nutrition they need to be healthy and ready for school success. This includes school breakfast, afterschool and summer meals, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps).

Yet, as we celebrate the holiday season, Congress has approved a deficit-escalating tax plan that will almost certainly lead to deep cuts to SNAP and other essential safety net assistance. This will hurt the nearly 79,000 South Jersey households that rely on SNAP to put food on their tables. More than half of these households include children, according to #SNAPFeedsNJ fact sheets released this fall by the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition. SNAP is one of the most cost-effective ways to fight both hunger and poverty.

We urge South Jersey’s congressmen – Donald Norcross, D-1; Frank LoBiondo, R-2; and Tom MacArthur, R-3 – to oppose harmful cuts to federal food assistance that will leave tens of thousands of their constituents without enough to eat.

Adele LaTourettte

Director, New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition