To the editor:

Local food shelves across the state help ensure that Minnesotans in need have enough to eat. They have capably served over 3 million visits per year for the last seven years, but they can’t do it alone.

For over 600,000 people across Minnesota, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, also plays a key role in helping families put food on the table. But the House-passed version of the Farm Bill includes cuts and harmful changes to SNAP.

These partisan efforts to undermine the program are misguided, and they’ll only hurt the most vulnerable in our community. In fact, if implemented, many working families, children, seniors, and veterans could be left unable to buy groceries and face with the possibility of sliding further into poverty. That’s not the right plan for any community – in Minnesota or anywhere else.

That’s why I’m grateful that Congressman Collin Peterson is working to defend SNAP against drastic cuts proposed in the House version of the Farm Bill. I congratulate Congressman Peterson for standing up for Minnesota families.

Colleen Moriarty

St. Paul

Coleen Moriaty is executive director for Hunger Solutions Minnesota and Chair of the Minnesota Partners to End Hunger