Three meals a day is what medical professionals have always advocated for to properly function throughout the day, especially for kids. But recently, this seems impossible to achieve due to the major cutbacks on food stamps for New York City residents.
President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, 2025, which initiated stricter requirements for people to receive food benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. About $186 billion will be cut from SNAP within the next 10 years to help pay for tax cuts, solely helping the wealthier.
The stricter requirements determining eligibility for receiving food benefits are creating panic for recipients in NYC, one of the most expensive cities to live in. The work age requirement has increased from 54 to 64; those under 64 must complete a minimum of 20 hours a week of work, training or volunteering in order to receive benefits.
Benefits for refugees, asylees and other legally present immigrants have also been reduced.
These strict requirements took effect in March, leaving about 180,000 people in NYC at risk of losing their federal food assistance. After June, the “risk” will become definite due to the grace period for people to find employment ending. Losing food benefits mean losing a food source for people, including children, which is inhumane.
About 42 million Americans in the U.S. depend on food stamps every month, with the majority being families with children. One-third of NYC households, or 1.8 million people, receive food stamps.
An estimated 10% of these households, including more than 300,000 people across the state, are at severe risk of having their benefits eliminated or reduced.
The Bronx is a borough that shows signs of struggle and a desperate need for these food benefits. It reportedly has a 7.4% unemployment rate, the highest of any borough. Compared to the 4.6% unemployment rate in NYC and 4.4% nationwide, unemployment needs to be addressed.
But once again, the government is making it impossible for people to find jobs since it is also the borough with the lowest job availability. It is an unfair situation for people who want to improve their lives but don’t have the opportunity to.
Having limited job and volunteer opportunities creates anxiety for people worrying about whether they can meet the job requirements needed to receive food stamps.
Along with the unfair opportunities, people in the SNAP program are also concerned for recipients who are unaware of the new requirements.
Unfortunately, language barriers are used as an excuse to justify discrimination and reduce aid. Workers in the SNAP program fear that non-English recipients are not being properly informed of the new requirements they will have to complete.
Not receiving assistance with the paperwork to show their compliance will ultimately hinder them, which doesn’t seem just at all.
Political opinions, specifically from the Republican Party and Trump, have made biased statements and false criticism about the SNAP program and its recipients, such as suggesting that food benefits are used to purchase junk food instead of nutritious meals.
People against food stamps or the SNAP program criticize recipients for not working, but they do not see the reality of how difficult it is to find work when there is such a limited amount of jobs available.
Nobody should be prevented from eating a meal. Nobody should feel anxious about the fact that they do not know when or where their next meal will be.
Removing and cutting back on food benefits and the SNAP program is creating completely unnecessary and avoidable concerns. This will not only affect people’s physical health, but it will also have dire effects on their mental health.
Food should be something people of all ages have easy access to, not a topic of harsh debate over eligibility.
