Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Combat Hunger Among Seniors
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill introduced in both the House and Senate this week aims to establish a working group tasked with combating hunger and malnutrition among senior citizens and adults with disabilities.
The Senior Nutrition Task Force Act is sponsored by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., and Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, in the House and Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Bob Casey, D-Penn., in the Senate.
Fitzpatrick said the bill is an acknowledgement that food insecurity continues to be a persistent problem during the post-pandemic recovery and, in many cases, is quietly affecting many of the most vulnerable citizens.
He went on to explain that the goal of the legislation, simply put, is to streamline the process for seniors and disabled Americans to be able to better utilize their nutrition benefits.
The bill’s co-sponsor in the House agreed.
“Finding healthy food in a food desert is hard enough as it is — but it’s even harder for seniors or folks living with disabilities,” Crockett said in a written statement.
“We are facing a senior hunger crisis in America, and extreme attacks on SNAP benefits for older Americans are only making things worse,” she continued. “The Senior Nutrition Task Force Act will give us the tools we need to investigate the causes of this crisis and craft bipartisan solutions to get healthy food to low-mobility Americans wherever they live.”
She added: “The United States is the richest country in the history of the world, and tonight, somewhere in America, somebody’s grandma is going to bed hungry. There’s no excuse for it, and we need to get to the root causes of this problem now — not later.”
Casey, chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, said he believes the act will be “an important step towards tearing down those barriers and making sure our seniors and adults with disabilities get the food they need to live long, healthy and independent lives.”
The bill is endorsed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging.
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and @DanMcCue
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