File #: 13-1984    Version: Name: Protection of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Type: Resolution Status: Approved
File created: 10/17/2013 In control: Garcia
On agenda: 10/23/2013 Final action: 10/23/2013
Title: PROPOSED RESOLUTION PROTECTION OF THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP) WHEREAS, No resident of Cook County should have to be food-insecure; and WHEREAS, 860,670, or 1 in 6 residents in Cook County are experiencing food insecurity, meaning they lack access to adequate nutritious food for a healthy lifestyle; and WHEREAS, 262,240, or just under 1 in 5 children in Cook County are experiencing food insecurity; and WHEREAS, Food insecurity is experienced in every community area in Cook County; and WHEREAS, Hunger increases health care costs, lowers workers' productivity, harms children's development, and diminishes children's educational performance; and WHEREAS, Fighting hunger is a public-private partnership; in Cook County, a strong private network exists that has provided 680,000 million people in Cook County with more than 65 million pounds of food in Fiscal Year 2013; however, private charity cannot do it alone and a strong federal hunger relief sa...
Sponsors: JESÚS G. GARCÍA, JOHN A. FRITCHEY, JERRY BUTLER, JOHN P. DALEY, STANLEY MOORE, JOAN PATRICIA MURPHY, EDWIN REYES, DEBORAH SIMS, ROBERT STEELE, LARRY SUFFREDIN, EARLEAN COLLINS, BRIDGET GAINER, ELIZABETH "LIZ" DOODY GORMAN, GREGG GOSLIN, TIMOTHY O. SCHNEIDER, PETER N. SILVESTRI, JEFFREY R. TOBOLSKI
title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION

PROTECTION OF THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (SNAP)

WHEREAS, No resident of Cook County should have to be food-insecure; and

WHEREAS, 860,670, or 1 in 6 residents in Cook County are experiencing food insecurity, meaning they lack access to adequate nutritious food for a healthy lifestyle; and

WHEREAS, 262,240, or just under 1 in 5 children in Cook County are experiencing food insecurity; and

WHEREAS, Food insecurity is experienced in every community area in Cook County; and

WHEREAS, Hunger increases health care costs, lowers workers' productivity, harms children's development, and diminishes children's educational performance; and

WHEREAS, Fighting hunger is a public-private partnership; in Cook County, a strong private network exists that has provided 680,000 million people in Cook County with more than 65 million pounds of food in Fiscal Year 2013; however, private charity cannot do it alone and a strong federal hunger relief safety net is required; and

WHEREAS, The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the cornerstone to the federal food and nutrition safety net; and

WHEREAS, SNAP is the cornerstone of the nutrition safety net, with 1,016,210 Cook County residents enrolled in the program; just under half of those utilizing the program are children; and

WHEREAS, SNAP provides an important economic stimulus to Cook County's communities, with every dollar in SNAP support spent generating $1.79 in economic activity; and

WHEREAS, any reduction in funding of or change in policy that seeks to exclude individuals participating in SNAP will increase the number of food-insecure people in Cook County; and

WHEREAS, threats to SNAP, exist in the current effort to reauthorize the Farm Bill; and

WHEREAS, Congress has proposed to cut up to $39 billion from SNAP in the Farm Bill, which would result in tremendous hardship for Cook County residents; and

WHEREAS, the Cook County seeks...

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