Photo: Aaron Doucett / Unsplash

As October comes to a close, millions of families across the U.S. are facing a frightening reality. Not from Halloween, but from the looming risk of losing essential food assistance. On November 1st, critical funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is once again in jeopardy, threatening the well-being of millions who rely on it to put food on the table.

We all know about the political gridlock gripping our nation. In recent times, a protracted ideological tug-of-war between our two major political parties has repeatedly led to government shutdowns. Regrettably, this has happened over 21 times since 1976! While there are important policy, economic, and political issues at stake, frankly, none are more urgent right now than ensuring that all Americans have enough to eat.

The critical question we must ask ourselves today is this: “How can a nation as wealthy and prosperous as the United States of America contemplate allowing 42 million people to be at risk of hunger because politics is precluding us from providing funding to SNAP recipients to buy food?”

SNAP and its predecessor, the Food Stamp Program, were first implemented in 1961 by President Kennedy and strengthened by President Johnson in 1964 when it was a cornerstone initiative in the “War on Poverty” campaign. Despite decades of political disagreement and numerous government shutdowns over the past 50 years, never once have SNAP or Food Stamp recipients missed payments during these periods—until now!

Have our society’s morals and values shifted so dramatically that we’ve moved from prioritizing efforts to reduce poverty, through both short- and long-term interventions, to accepting a political culture where being right outweighs doing what is right? The idea that millions in America could be unnecessarily subjected to hunger for the sake of political posturing should alarm us all.

Debate and disagreement are essential to a healthy democracy. But using the health and well-being of 42 million low-income Americans as leverage in political negotiations is unacceptable. It is inhumane and should never be tolerated as a means to resolve partisan disputes.

Have we reached the tipping point in society and, as a nation, where we need to question what we prioritize and hold most sacred? Is it right to view “anything and anyone,” including food access, as a bargaining chip to achieve a political victory? Here at Food First, our response is a resounding “NO!” It shouldn’t be okay to leverage food access as a way to win a political argument. We do not accept “normalizing” playing politics with people’s ability to eat.

We are living through a period when the very essence of who we are as a people and what we stand for as a nation is being questioned, tested, and redefined. While there are many political issues that demand attention, we should all agree that this discourse must never come at the expense of the elderly, children, the sick, or those with limited resources. Hunger should never be used as a political tactic.

We must ask ourselves how we have gone from waging a “War on Poverty” in the 1960s to now risking the well-being of millions by refusing to allocate funding for SNAP. America has long prided itself on being the land of opportunity. If our leaders truly cared, they would find a way to ensure families can eat while they continue to debate the critical issues of our time.

Come on, America—Democrats and Republicans, supporters of the left and the right, urban and rural alike—we have clear differences on a range of matters. But we should be united as a nation in declaring that no one should go hungry because we are in the midst of political dysfunction!

Let’s do the right thing. Stand in solidarity, declaring we will not accept our children, the elderly, those who are sick, and those who are trying to survive with limited resources going without food because we won’t fund SNAP!

Call your member of Congress and the White House demanding action now!