About nine percent of Louisiana veterans rely on assistance to feed themselves and their families.
They get that food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.
“The importance of SNAP for veterans is that it’s an additional source of food beyond the food that they do and can get from Second Harvest Food Bank,” explained Second Harvest Food Bank Program Coordinator Brenda Pourciau.
According to Feeding America, a nonprofit organization of food banks, 20 percent of those who rely on food banks are veterans.
“Second Harvest Food Bank is a supplement, and so the SNAP will provide additional food for them, which is very important. We care about that. It’s important that we know that they can get as much food as possible, and so it would mean a lot to those families if they do not get it,” said Pourciau.
However, that assistance could be in jeopardy for some veterans in the House version of the farm bill.
Some worry the bill would cut federal funding to SNAP and expand work requirements that could impact low-income veterans.
“We’re concerned and care for them to actually having more food than we can actually provide for them,” said Second Harvest Food Bank Community Outreach Coordinator Brittany Bowie.
