Your temporary inconvenience is someone’s living nightmare

Central Ohio experienced an intense storm that caused power outages for days. Some suffered home damage and significant expenses. For others, it was inconvenient but manageable.

As power was restored, I discovered my refrigerator wouldn’t restart. I can’t get a technician until Aug. 25 – no refrigeration for two weeks. That’s more than inconvenient.

While figuring out where to get my next meal, I realized: What if this wasn’t temporary?

What if this were your daily reality? How do families manage not having enough food? It requires extra work, planning and creates stress.

Millions of families with children, people with disabilities and the elderly rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy groceries. It is both successful and necessary. Yet Congress has cut SNAP benefits severely – 4 million people have lost coverage in the past year. Worse, some states are now forced to share costs the federal government traditionally carried, leaving states no choice but to cut more people.

We must speak out: Either reverse these cuts or grant states a two-year delay to prepare. Hunger isn’t inevitable – it’s a policy choice. It shouldn’t take a storm to make us see it.