Washington, D.C., Feb. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Grocers Association (NGA), the trade association representing the independent supermarket industry, alongside independent community grocers nationwide, sent a letter yesterday to Congress opposing recent efforts within the FY2024 House Agriculture Appropriations bill to restrict SNAP purchases under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The bill includes two provisions that would undermine SNAP:

• One would create a pilot program to catalog and restrict SNAP purchases
• 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 vice president 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 yesterday. 

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 signers.

Eric Payne
National Grocers Association
703-516-8808
epayne@nationalgrocers.org