My first job after college involved living in Chicago as a member of AmeriCorps VISTA. For the uninitiated, the AmeriCorps VISTA stipends are based on the poverty rate of the area you are serving. In Chicago in 2018, this meant a bi-weekly allowance of just over $500. To a single person in their early 20s completing their first professional job, this was minimal — for someone supporting their family, it would be unimaginable. From first-hand experience, federal programs that allow low-income individuals to supplement this type of income are essential.

That’s why the recently approved 2024 Farm Bill is so disappointing. While House Committee on Agriculture members publicly celebrate bipartisan approval, the Thrifty Food Plan and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program changes will be devastating for our neighbors who rely on this support. Under this plan, tens of billions of dollars will be eliminated over the next decade, uniformly impacting tens of millions of people across the United States. People like my former self.

If this change is difficult to imagine, know that almost 185,00 SNAP recipients reside in Maine. Every child in Maine currently receives free lunch, and many need additional programs to avoid food insecurity at home and during the summer. These are the neighbors of the singular Maine representative on the House Committee on Agriculture, Chellie Pingree, and these are the people whose lives will be significantly impacted by the changes to the 2024 Farm Bill. We must ask our representatives in the House and the Senate not to support the changes that will result in such significant loss to our current and future communities.

Natalie Jones

Stockton Springs