The National Grocers Association (NGA) is thanking members of Congress for protecting grocers and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants in the FY 2024 agriculture appropriations bill by eliminating a provision that could have caused widespread disruptions and undercut SNAP’s effectiveness.
A proposal dropped from the final bill would have sharply limited the types of foods covered under SNAP and forced grocers to examine hundreds of thousands of food items to decide which qualify and which don’t. The proposed pilot program would have asked the government to pick winners and losers in the grocery sector and harmed the 42 million SNAP participants who have diverse nutritional needs.
“Fortunately, members of Congress realized a proposal that looked simple on paper would have created confusion for program participants and resulted in a costly bureaucratic nightmare for small businesses around this country,” said Stephanie Johnson, NGA VP of government relations.
“The strength of SNAP is within its efficient and flexible design. We are proud to support the continuation of an effective and impactful program for families and local economies.”
NGA also supports the $7.03 billion in funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to continue this critical lifelines for millions of families.
Independent Grocers Ask Congress To Oppose SNAP Restrictions
The National Grocers Association (NGA), alongside independent grocers across the U.S., sent a letter Feb. 20 to Congress opposing recent efforts within the FY2024 House Agriculture Appropriations bill to restrict SNAP purchases.
The bill includes two provisions that would undermine SNAP:
- One would create a pilot program to catalog and restrict SNAP purchases; and
- The other would collect SNAP purchasing data with the goal of eventually restricting SNAP purchases.
“One of the main reasons SNAP is such an effective program is because of the ease of processing transactions for both retailers and beneficiaries, allowing folks to make the best decisions for their nutritional needs and families,” said Stephanie Johnson, RDN, NGA VP of government relations.
“Independent grocers support SNAP choice because it maintains an already successful program and ensures families can shop with the same dignity and ease as any other grocery customer.”
Nearly 2,500 NGA members from across the country, located in every single Congressional district, signed the letter that was sent to Congress on Feb. 20.
Part of the letter states, “The dietary needs of the SNAP population are diverse, and no one diet would be appropriate for all participants. For instance, a cancer patient struggling to gain weight doesn’t have the same needs as a child fighting diabetes.”
Click here to view the letter and the full list of independent grocers that signed.
About NGA
Washington, D.C.-based NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers and service suppliers.
Read more association news from The Shelby Report.
