About 735 Bucks County senior citizens will go without summer fresh produce food vouchers thanks to federal funding cuts to the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP), the Bucks County Commissioners announced Thursday.
Bucks County Area Agency on Aging (BCAAA) requested 15,000 vouchers but due to federal cuts will only receive 11,325 vouchers. Each eligible low- income senior may receive five vouchers. That means this year only 2,265 will receive their block of vouchers, while 735 seniors will go without, Bucks County officials confirmed.
“If anyone is looking for the true human cost of these thoughtless and heartless cuts being rammed through by the Trump administration, look no further,” said Bucks County Board of Commissioners Chair Bob Harvie.
The USDA.gov provides SNAP special Rules for the Elderly or Disabled on its website. Gov. Josh Shaprio is suing the USDA for what the commonwealth alleges is an “unlawful termination of local food purchasing assistance program” with over $1 billion in cuts to food assistance programs to states, the Associated Press reported June 4.
“I don’t get what the hell their priorities are if not feeding people and taking care of our farmers,” Shapiro said at a news conference at a food bank warehouse in Philadelphia.
On May 28, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) reported the federal House Reconciliation Bill proposes the deepest cuts ever made to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. This Republican budget backed by Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick aims to slash a whopping $300 billion from the program through 2034. “SNAP could end in some states entirely,” the CBPP notes.
According to Feeding America.org, SNAP is the largest anti-hunger program in the nation. It helped meet the food insecurity needs of more than 41 million in 2022.
“The most vulnerable seniors in Bucks County are going to lose reliable access to food because of the cuts to this vital program. It’s a disgrace,” said Harvie, a Democrat who is also running for Congress in Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District. “These funds were allocated by Congress and are illegally being stripped away from the people who rely on these programs to survive. I urge you to call upon your federal Representatives to put an end to this unnecessary cruelty.”
Summer farmers market voucher distribution center locations across Bucks County are available here.
BCAAA will announce on the county’s website and on the department’s Facebook page when a specific senior center runs out of vouchers, the press announcement said.
“Our seniors deserve better. They are our parents and grandparents. They built this county. They made it what it is today. When we allow the federal government to rip away programs like this to make room for tax cuts for billionaires, we begin to lose our humanity as a nation,” said Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia.
