Hunger is on the ballot—not as a partisan issue, but as a North Carolina issue.
Across the nation, changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are putting greater pressure on a program that millions of Americans depend on to feed their families. Here in North Carolina, more than 1.2 million people rely on SNAP, nearly half of them children under 17.
We should be asking a simple question: If we know our neighbors need food, where are the resources to meet that need? Where is there help for our small farmers?
SNAP is more than a food assistance program. It is an investment in our communities. SNAP dollars are spent at local grocery stores and with food retailers, supporting jobs and keeping money in local economies. They also create opportunities for farmers who produce the food our communities need.
That connection matters particularly in rural North Carolina, where families can face limited access to grocery stores, higher transportation costs, and fewer economic opportunities.
And this should not be a partisan debate.
When I served in Congress and on the Agriculture Committee, I saw firsthand that nutrition programs could bring Democrats and Republicans together. Senators George McGovern and Bob Dole—two leaders from different political parties—worked together to strengthen the Food Stamp Program because they understood a basic truth: children should not go hungry, families should have access to nutritious food, and farmers should have viable markets.
Today, that common ground is needed again.
Beginning Oct. 1, significant changes to how SNAP is funded and administered are placing new responsibilities on states. States could face substantially higher administrative costs and additional financial pressure tied to SNAP error rates. There is growing concern that some of these costs could ultimately fall on counties.
That should concern all of us.
Many rural counties do not have the revenue to absorb additional costs—especially the counties where the need for food assistance is greatest.
We cannot expect local governments to do more with less while asking small farmers to produce healthy food and families to somehow stretch already-limited resources further.
North Carolina needs a food system that works for everyone: farmers, families, businesses, and rural communities.
That requires bringing people together—not dividing them.
Rural Roots Exchange
Join farmers, community partners, state and local organizations, government agencies, policymakers, and concerned citizens for a serious conversation about food access, rural economic development, SNAP, and resources for small farmers and food-insecure families.
Rural Roots Exchange: A Conversation & Resource Event
Oct. 21, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Free admission — registration required-Eva Clayton Rural Food Institute (https://ecrfi.org/rural-roots-exchange)
Let’s put rural North Carolina’s farmers, families, and communities at the center of the conversation.
Dining and Cooking