In the News

The federal budget, under President Donald Trump, shows plans to cut over $130 billion worth of funding targeting things like food assistance programs. Congressman Richard Neal told us this is something everyone should be concerned about in Massachusetts and beyond. “America is a land of great bounty. The idea you’re going to balance the federal government by cutting nutrition is nonsense,” he said.

With the possibility of federal cuts on things like food assistance programs looming, it could impact local groups such as the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. The Food Bank’s director of programs, Christina Maxwell, sat down with Western Mass News over the weekend and shared this message. “Those cuts have not gone through yet, so everything is as it has been. We don’t know what the future is going to bring of course but we’re carrying on,” she noted.

However, we wanted to know what would happen if these cuts did in fact go through. Maxwell explained that about 194,000 households in western Massachusetts rely on food assistance programs like SNAP benefits. She told Western Mass News that, if the federal government cuts $134 billion in funding, it would mean about $6.4 billion worth of cuts in Massachusetts over 10 years and that would result in a 20 percent cut in daily benefits for SNAP holders. She described this as potentially devastating and added that the emergency food system is not equipped to make up for this level of drastic cuts in funding, especially since the need is only growing. “Of course, we know inflation is playing a big role in that. We all know that groceries are much more expensive now than they used to be, so people are struggling and, of course, now with tariffs going into place, groceries are going to get more expensive, so more and more people will need help putting food on their table,” she noted.

Maxwell explained that western Massachusetts receives approximately $34 million every month from SNAP. She added these cuts won’t just affect those, who receive benefits they will also affect farmers and grocers as well. With this in mind, we wanted to know what kind of conversations are happening at the U.S. Capitol. “Well, it’s clear…we intend to resist these proposals,” Neal added.

As for what can be done, Maxwell told us, although these cuts feel inevitable, they will continue to fight against these cuts and she assured Western Mass News they have fought and won against large cuts before.

Maxwell added that they are also announcing an appeal for the community called ‘Call for the Common Good.’ More information will be put out on that shortly and they will be asking for support from the community.