Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown shops on $42 SNAP budget in Cleveland to highlight Trump's slashing of benefits across America for Blacks and the country's most vulnerable...By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader
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Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown (D-11), a Warrensville Hts. Democrat
Amid threats in Congress, U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown joined representatives of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank for a SNAP Challenge event to highlight the importance of nutrition benefits
CLEVELAND, Ohio– Ohio 11th Congressional District Congresswoman Shontel Brown (OH-11) joined representatives from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank on Wednesday at Dave's Market on Cleveland's largely Black east side to highlight the importance of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and the challenges that Northeast Ohio families and families across America relying on SNAP face under President Donald Trump and his administration.
Wednesday's event in Cleveland is part of a "SNAP Challenge" of events taking place across the country as members of Congress and the public demonstrate the difficulty of purchasing food on the limited support SNAP provides.
Rep. Brown, who is Black, shopped for a week's worth of groceries on a budget of just $42, the average weekly benefit for SNAP recipients nationwide. She was joined by Kristin Warzocha, president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
Warzocha was Brown's guest for President Trump's Joint Address to Congress earlier this month.
A Warrensville Hts. Democrat, Brown purchased pasta and pasta sauce, rice, chicken drumsticks, canned tuna, orange juice, white bread, whipped dressing, eggs, oatmeal, oranges, bananas, tomatoes, mini cucumbers, and lettuce for a total of $41.96. She was unable to afford milk, butter, oil, additional meat or proteins, mustard or ketchup, soup, additional breads or crackers, peanut butter or additional side items.
Brown was only able to stay on budget by using store coupons and seeking out items on sale.
"SNAP is a lifeline for folks who need a little extra help putting food on the table. It's not a lot—just small benefits to make groceries more affordable," the congresswoman said. "It was stressful shopping on this budget and watching every dollar – but that's what thousands of my neighbors do every day. Trying to get by on $42 a week for food is incredibly tough, and I wish more of my colleagues experienced that firsthand. We should be strengthening SNAP, not cutting it. But the Republican budget proposes massive cuts to the program to pay for tax cuts for the rich—and that's just plain wrong. I'll fight these cuts every step of the way."
The congresswoman thanked Dave's Market and the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
"Thank you to Dave's Market for hosting us and for their investment in local neighborhoods in Northeast Ohio and thank you to the staff at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank who are fighting hunger every day," Brown said.
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), 21% of households in Ohio's majority Black 11th congressional district (OH-11) (roughly 75,000 households) rely on SNAP benefits. This includes 39% of households with children, 42% of households with an elderly person, and 51% of households with a person with a disability.
Brown said that the percentage of households in OH-11 that depend on SNAP is the highest for a congressional district in Ohio.
The Center on Budget Policies and Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute, ascertained that the cuts to SNAP will affect millions of low-income people nationwide, a disproportionate number of them Black and people of color.
Nationally, however, most SNAP recipients identify as White, data from the USDA show.
President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who leads the president's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) but has no elective office, claim they want to rid the SNAP program of junk food and the government of waste. But their critics, including Congressional Democrats in mass, say that they simply want to target poor and low-income people with racist, anti-Democratic proposals while simultaneously cutting taxes for the rich.
Democrats remain in the minority as Republicans control the U.S. House, the Senate, and the White House.
Congresswoman Brown is a vice-ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over matters relative to the USDA and SNAP.
The congresswoman is urging bipartisan negotiations and cooperation by House Speaker Mike Johnson on the Farm Bill and opposes harmful cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in funding the measure.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com
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