A modest food assistance program that assists low-income senior adults in supplementing their diets may see significant changes in President Trump’s proposed budget for the upcoming year.
Seniors would instead receive what the Trump administration is referring to as “MAHA food boxes” that are packed with goods that are directly acquired from farmers, as the plan would reduce money for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s promise to “Make America Healthy Again” inspired the name of the food boxes, which might potentially be implemented to “supplant or complement current USDA programs,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
What other government programs could use the MAHA food boxes for was not disclosed by the agency.
Food stamps, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are administered by the USDA.
The organisation also manages the National School Lunch program and other food assistance initiatives like Women, Infants, and Children, which targets children and pregnant women.
“Unlike the current approach using food banks, which provide those in need with shelf-stable foods that are high in sodium and other harmful ingredients, MAHA boxes would be filled with commodities sourced from domestic farmers and given directly to American households,” the budget proposal submitted by Trump states.
The USDA estimates that the CSFP’s $389 million budget provides assistance to approximately 730,000 low-income seniors each year. In contrast, the USDA estimates that the food stamp program spent almost $100 billion last year to help 41 million Americans.
According to George Matysik, executive director of the Philadelphia nonprofit Share Food Program, the CSFP is crucial for low-income seniors who are having difficulty putting food on the table.
He raised concerns about the Trump administration’s intentions to use food boxes in place of the CSFP, pointing out how difficult it would be to transport perishable food from farmers straight to senior citizens.
Another query is whether the food in the food boxes would satisfy the needs of elderly people, many of whom have trouble getting to the shop and frequently require shelf-stable items, according to Matysik.
“What we do know is that the program that we currently have is working, and seniors have come to rely on us,” he stated. “We have no details [about logistics of the MAHA food boxes], and this has been a continued challenge that we’ve had with this administration, where decisions are sort of made overnight.”
In order to give 32-pound food boxes to almost 7,000 seniors in the Philadelphia area who make less than about $23,000 annually, the Share Food Program depends on $4.5 million in CSFP funding.
Matysik refuted the Trump administration’s allegations that the program gives seniors unhealthy food, pointing out that the boxes usually include items like pastas, lean meats, and canned veggies.
“For seniors, a lot of times it can be hard to make it out to the grocery store — it can be hard to get those core items that folks need,” he continued. “What we do at Share Food Program is take it directly to the doorstep of about 4,500 seniors, so not only are we providing that nutrition, but we’re making it easy on the seniors.”
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Funding for the CSFP may not be reduced, but the Trump budget proposal is a wish list for the current government.
However, the proposal coincides with a broader effort by the Trump administration to cut funding for similar initiatives.
For example, in March, the administration decided to eliminate two federal programs that gave schools and food banks roughly $1 billion in funding and instead require them to purchase food directly from nearby farmers, ranchers, and producers.
