On Wednesday, January 27, 2016, the Obama administration convened a conference entitled “A White House Conversation on Child Hunger in America.” The event, which was live streamed, started off with remarks by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. They were followed by two panel discussions discussing hunger and the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, one by experts, the other by local leaders with experience in fighting hunger.
The panel of experts all testified to the importance of the SNAP program in reducing hunger and poverty, and the efficiency and success of the program and its management. FoodBank Executive Director, Carlos Rodriguez, represented the Feeding America network of Food Banks. “We have to stop demonizing programs like SNAP (food stamps) and start describing them based on the asset, value and resource that they provide. Today our neighbors in need include many working families who planned for a better reality than what they face. To solve the problem of hunger they count on a strong partnership across various sectors – government, charity and private. Let’s shatter the misconceptions around hunger and food insecurity in this country. These are families struggling to make ends meet and programs like SNAP help to shorten the emergency food lines and get people back on solid ground.” View Video Recording of Panel below.