Madeline Morgan+FollowMy Customers (SNAP) and My Subsidies (USDA) Are Both GoneI'm a farmer who sells at the local farmers market. I have two types of customers: middle-class folks with cash, and low-income families using SNAP (EBT cards). SNAP accounts for 40% of my weekend revenue. The first week of November, they all vanished. The EBT cards had no money. At the exact same time, the farm loan I need from the USDA to buy seeds for next season is frozen. And the crop reports from the USDA that I need to plan my harvest? Publication suspended. This is the policy absurdity: The government (USDA) is supposed to pay me (the farmer) to grow the food, and pay the poor (SNAP users) to buy my food. Now the government is shut down, and both ends of that deal are broken. I'm the guy in the middle getting crushed. #Farmer #USDA #SNAPShutdown2931Share
Robert Macdonald+FollowI Can't Sell My Food to the Poor, and I Can't Donate It EitherI'm a vegetable farmer. This month has been a double-hit. First, 40% of my customers at the local farmers market rely on SNAP. The first week of November, they vanished. Even now that the court ordered the benefits (on the 8th), they're panic-buying canned goods, not my fresh lettuce. Second, I thought, "Fine, I'll donate the produce to the food bank." But here's the policy problem: I rely on the USDA's "Good Samaritan" donation program for the tax deductions that offset my shipping costs. The USDA is closed. No one is processing the deduction paperwork. It is now more expensive for me to haul this food to the food bank than it is to let it rot in the field. #Farmer #SNAPShutdown #FoodWaste #USDA31Share
