Earlier this year House Speaker Mike Johnson announced plans for a bill to address then-President-elect Donald Trump’s priorities. Among the proposed cuts to fund the bill is a reduction in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and increasing its work requirements.

Mollie Van Lieu, vice president of nutrition and health policy for the International Fresh Produce Association, said since the program’s inception, those in Washington, D.C., have discussed whether to cut or increase its benefits. She said a major focus for IFPA in the SNAP conversation is increasing the access to and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

“One in 10 Americans overall are eating the Dietary Guidelines for America’s recommendations for fruits and veggies,” she said.

Minerva Delgado, the director of coalitions and advocacy for the Alliance to End Hunger, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of corporations, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, universities and foundation, said the focus should be more on ending hunger, not eliminating benefits.

“There are 47 million people in the U.S. who are food insecure and that includes 14,000,000 children,” she said. “We should be talking about cutting the number of hungry people in the U.S. not cutting the budget of a program like SNAP that helps to feed over 42 million people.”

Delgado said a general misconception about SNAP benefits is that they’re not supplemental.

“The first thing that people don’t understand about SNAP is that it’s not a huge dollar amount we’re talking about when you break it down per person, per meal,” she said. “SNAP served most recently about 42 million people [a year] with an average monthly benefit of about $211 per person per month, and that’s about $60 a day or $2 per meal.”

Van Liew said as consumers grapple with the overall affordability of groceries, it hits those with SNAP benefits hardest. And while it’s easy to say the price of produce should be lowered, increasing produce consumption is far more nuanced, she said. Increases in the cost of produce have remained relatively low, more so than with other food groups.

“It’s not, ‘This piece of produce is too expensive. It’s that all of my groceries are expensive, and what are the things that are going to give me maybe the most caloric buck or that I know are going to be consumed in a timely fashion,’” Van Liew said. “I think affordability, perishability has to do with it — consistency of flavor, all things that we have to work on with all consumers and are a barrier to consumption.”

Delgado said about 75% of SNAP participants live at or below the poverty line, and the majority of those in the SNAP program receive Social Security benefits and 80% of those SNAP households include a child, an elderly individual or a person with a disability. While Johnson’s proposal includes added work requirements for SNAP benefits, Delgado said SNAP has work requirements built in.

“SNAP actually has stringent work requirements, and when you look at the folks who are using SNAP that are able-bodied without dependent children, those work requirements are even more stringent,” Delgado said. “So, for those who can’t meet the work requirements in that category — able-bodied adults without dependent children — they are limited; if they’re not able to meet work requirements, they are limited to three months of SNAP out of three years. We think that these are pretty stringent work requirements, so talk about increasing work requirements may play well in the public, but I don’t see how you’re going to make these work requirements any stronger. I just don’t think that you’ll get more blood out of that stone.”

Van Lieu said there are more than 2 million monthly users of SNAP that contribute about $100 billion in retail sales yearly. And programs such as Double Up Bucks, the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — also known as WIC — and the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program have helped increase access and consumption of healthy food and produce.

“For example, [look at] $10 on fruits and vegetables being spent,” she said. “You get $10 for your future visit, or a $10 discount — different places do it different ways. The data show that SNAP consumers in that program are eating more fruits and vegetables than the average American.”

Delgado said the USDA certifies which stores and markets can receive and process SNAP benefits, and this includes farmers’ markets, which helps boost the access to fresh produce for those in the SNAP program.

“You’re supporting farmers, you’re supporting manufacturers, distributors retailers — the entire food supply chain,” she said. “The great thing about SNAP and part of the reason why it’s so efficient is that it works through normal channels and really helps to support the economy as well so there are benefits to recipients as well as benefits to our neighbors and the economy. For the health and healthy incentive programs like [the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program] and WIC, for every dollar invested in a healthy incentive program where folks have more access to fruits and vegetables fruits and vegetables, that generates $3 in economic activity, and so it’s just a smart investment not just in people but in our economy.”

Delgado said it’s important for the agriculture industry to continue to discuss the benefits that programs such as Double Up Bucks, the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, WIC and the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program have in helping increase access and consumption of healthy food and produce.

“Farmers have a stake in this. We know for example National Farmers Union is a member of the Alliance to End Hunger and they very much support SNAP and oppose restrictions to cuts to the SNAP program,” she said. “We know that farmers are already involved in this in this fight and so we would just encourage them to continue to advocate for a strong farm bill that strengthens the ability of farmers to produce the great food that they produce and the ability of folks who are food insecure and hungry to be able to access those resources.”

Van Liew said IFPA works alone and in tandem with members of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance to ensure access to fresh produce remains a priority for the upcoming administration. She said IFPA also serves as a resource if lawmakers have questions, too.

“The beauty of the fresh produce industry is that we have one foot in agriculture and then one foot in public health, because our products align with public health,” she said. “We’re going in and doing these visits and conversations, not just with the industry, but with folks like the American Heart Association and Center for the Science and Public Interest, Diabetes Association — all of these folks as well that are aligned with our goals of increasing consumption.”