Tuesday, September 24, 2013

"When I Was Hungry, You Fed Me . . ."


42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’  Matthew 25:42-45


As a food justice advocate, I am deeply moved to raise my voice in response to the implications of the Farm Bill legislation currently under consideration. However, as a mother who has access to wholesome food to feed my children, I am appalled. As a citizen, I am terrified; and, as a Christian woman of faith, I am called to action for those of us who will be most deeply impacted!

Our federal government is in the process of stripping out legislation that provides food for millions of Americans, particularly children and seniors, the most vulnerable among us. If these significant cuts are implemented, we can be assured that people, many of whom already face daily food insecurities, will indeed starve. Proposals from the U.S. House and Senate include:

  • Limiting Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)/Food Stamps resulting in a $90 a month cut for over 1.7 million people
  • Changing requirements so that 1.8 million lose SNAP benefits; 210,000 children lose free school meal access
  • Reducing Commodity Supplemental Food Program for Seniors and Seniors Farmers Markets
  • Remove/Reduce programs for Native Americans, including Food Distribution, Native grown food support and support for Urban Food Enterprise Development
It is estimated that over 3 million Americans would lose access to SNAP - 136,000 in Illinois! We can do better to serve and protect one of our most basic and important needs as human beings - access to wholesome and nutritious food.

Your, our, voices must be heard. Please take a moment to call AND write your Illinois U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative, and tell them that we must retain food assistance programs for the most vulnerable among us. For your convenience, information for our senators is below, as well as a web site to locate the telephone numbers and addresses of your U.S. Representative.

Senator Dick Durbin
711 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2152
Senator Mark Kirk
524 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510
(202) 224-2854


To find your representative Click Here and simply enter your Zip code.

Thank you, and God blessings to you and your families,

Mrs. Monica Moss