Jimmy Panetta

And I think that this may be an opportunity for us to collaborate and sit down together with community leaders and others to help find solutions for some of the really tough problems that we have with infrastructure here in some of our…

I appreciate this opportunity.

Please don't respond that way to my local mayors.

CIPA firmly believes that of the options available to Congress in the next farm bill--providing ad hoc disaster assistance, authorizing a permanent disaster program, or further strengthening crop insurance to increase participation rates…

If this provision becomes law, it will provide a bridge to the next farm bill.

This is why we worked with Chairman Bishop, Ranking Member Harris, Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL), and other Members on a tailored fix that simply puts specialty crop A&O back to its 2020 levels.

We can help address the need for emergency food bank support by providing an additional $900 million for food purchases through TEFAP.

I would say that is one of the primary things that we see, just an additional investment and a need for technology support in our rural communities.

I will take a perspective from our rural areas.

So expanded TEFAP funding--and we are recommending $450 million in annual mandatory TEFAP funding in the next farm bill--would help reduce that dependency on buying food.

I am continuing, though, to hear from food banks in my district about how critical TEFAP is so that they can meet their demand for food.

Recently, I led a bipartisan letter with my colleague Shontel Brown and the late Congressman Don Young, requesting an additional $900 million to support The Emergency Food Assistance Program, TEFAP.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to all our witnesses for participating in this very important hearing, especially on the evening before the farm bill coming up in 2023.

It is time to think about who are our traditional college students now.

We have to remember that the people who we are talking about on SNAP are usually low-wage workers.

I do hope to be a part of this Committee in which I can continue to ensure that obviously SNAP not just plays a majority role in the farm bill, but that it grows and expands.

I hope to use next year, especially with the 2023 Farm Bill and securing our Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Food is a very basic human need. We all know that, right?

I appreciate your comments regarding building on the proven success of flexibilities during COVID-19.

Current SNAP guidelines often disqualify them from accessing this Federal lifeline.

I am obviously proud of what we did at the Federal level to increase SNAP assistance, but as you know and as you said today, that is temporary.

However, as you know, many families, many farmworkers still greatly rely on SNAP, especially over the last few years with the pandemic, which has definitely led to higher food insecurity in many parts of my district.

I have been working to get military hunger prevention legislation across the goal line.

There are many programs in which we can make SNAP more convenient as well.

Those farmworkers are surrounded by fresh fruits and vegetables all day long. Unfortunately, what we have seen is that their access at home is not as plentiful as it is when they are at work, and it has been unfortunate that this has been…