A 2026 Farm Bill
The House Agriculture Committee began marking up text for a 2026 Farm Bill on Tuesday, March 3rd. The Domestic Human Needs’ (DHN) Hunger and Nutrition subcommittee responded to the markup, noting many welcomed provisions, but notably, that the bill falls short of meeting the overwhelming needs of hungry families in the United States.
Thankfully, Rep. Glen Thompson’s (PA-15) farmbill text reauthorizes the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), renews critical farmer assistance programs, and restarts effective Farm-to-Food bank initiatives.
However, the bill’s current iteration does not mitigate significant changes to crucial nutrition programs and does not provide necessary funding to turn these opportunities into realities.
Pictured: hundreds of amendments sit inside boxes outside the House Agriculture Committee room, later to be dispersed and debated over the course of three days. Photo credits: ELCA.
The Problems
The biggest concerns remain over the changes and cuts made to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the 2025 reconciliation package (H.R. 1), which are not reversed in this Farm Bill proposal. It instituted a massive administrative cost shift to states and has and will continue to remove eligible individuals and families from receiving food assistance through work requirements and strict eligibility rules.
$187 million, or about 20% of SNAP, was cut in that package. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, hundreds of thousands of people who utilized or depended on SNAP have already been removed from the program. With the upcoming transfer of costs to state budgets, which in cases like Arizona are already tight, many more people will lose SNAP benefits.
“As complicated as these cost shifts or markups may sound, SNAP is not ‘an abstract policy’. For many families, it is the difference between food on the table and going without,” said Claire Fisher, an advocacy associate at Franciscan Action Network (FAN), a member organization of DHN.
What DHN is Doing
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, a leading partner of the DHN Hunger and Nutrition subcommittee, led an interfaith organizational sign-on letter urging bipartisan changes to the Farm Bill, which would reverse these drastic cuts. The letter states:
“The faith community has been clear: charity alone cannot adequately address the nutritional needs of over 47 million Americans struggling with food insecurity. Hunger in America is a widespread, structural issue that the federal government must address. Our faith traditions are therefore united in our belief that our government has a moral obligation to support the most vulnerable in our communities. SNAP administrators, beneficiaries, and advocates alike are still reeling from last fall’s
government shutdown and scrambling to institute the budget reconciliation law’s more expansive work reporting requirements and time limits — not to mention bracing for the administrative and benefit cost-shifts that are quickly approaching. State and local program and budget officials are expressing grave concern about their ability to continue running SNAP in their states without adequate federal investments, and they need relief now.”
Many of DHN’s partner organizations have released resources, events, and action alerts
to push for necessary changes in the 2026 Farm Bill.
- Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger has a variety of advocacy actions, ranging from opposing SNAP cuts to the reinstatement of the USDA Household Food Security Survey, or writing a postcard to the Secretary of Agriculture.
- In response to these increased risks to SNAP and Pope Leo’s invitation to spiritual poverty through Dilexi Te, FAN offers this prayer for all those who involuntarily fast during Lent.
- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) released this action alert on SNAP and Food for Peace, and an informational blog that details additional material in the current Farm Bill proposal.
Visit our members page to explore what other DHN member organizations are doing to ensure SNAP remains a vital tool in addressing hunger in the United States.