While we mostly discuss the quality of food being served to our children in this space, in my life as a journalist I tend to write about food policy, nutrition and hunger. My most recent story for Heated takes a deep dive into SNAP and the surge in hunger since the start of the pandemic.
In the story I take you through some particularly punishing provisions of SNAP that must change. For instance SNAP recipients cannot use EBT to buy hot food. College students who are hungry cannot get SNAP unless they work 20 hours a week. Hungry families on SNAP can't shop online for groceries because delivery fees are too high.
Why do we punish the food insecure, especially in a time of economic fallout and public health crisis?