To the editor:

I remember Katrina.

I remember families waving shirts from rooftops, praying for helicopters that never came. I remember looters–not for greed, but for bread. For baby formula. For dignity.

And I remember how the government that delayed rescue rushed prosecution.

Today, in 2025, we are back on the rooftops.

For the first time in American history, a president’s administration attempted to allow food stamps to lapse during a government shutdown. Over 42 million Americans — children, seniors, working families — stood to lose access to SNAP benefits. Not because the funds ran out, but because the Trump administration refused to use the USDA’s contingency reserves.

This is not fiscal discipline. It is engineered hunger.

And it came from a man who once campaigned for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Peace is not a trophy. It is feeding families. It is showing up. It is refusing to let hunger become a bargaining chip.

Even now, as federal judges intervene to force the release of emergency food aid, the president remains silent. That silence speaks volumes.

This, from a man who boasts of ending wars abroad — yet cannot, or will not, end a politically motivated shutdown at home.

What kind of peace is it that feeds no one?

I am not throwing stones. I am bearing witness.

Shutdown is the storm. And once again, the poorest are stranded while the powerful debate. We are witnessing a man-made disaster — echoing the silence of FEMA and the fury of forgotten neighborhoods.

This letter is testimony.

From the rooftops of memory to the hunger lines of today, we remember.

And we demand better.

Phillip Hill

Balaton