More than 3.8 million Texas kids qualify for the free or reduced-price lunch program during the school year. Government programs support their nutrition because we know hungry children do not learn as well as other children. They don’t grow as strong as other children, and they suffer long-term health effects. They experience higher rates of depression and anxiety. Children who face chronic hunger are more likely to struggle in school, drop out and remain in poverty as adults. No amount of economic development or test-score boosting can undo that damage.
The same kids who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch face food insecurity during the summer months when they are not in school.
Stephen Reeves
On June 22, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott line-item vetoed funding in the state budget that would have brought Texas into the federal Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer program. By doing so, Texas is turning down an estimated $450 million in fully federally funded food assistance for children. That means our tax dollars are not coming back to this state.
The governor’s reasoning? A vague warning about “the future of the national food benefits program” — a reference to proposed federal changes that, if passed, would slash nearly $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. However, the federal funds used for Summer EBT do not come from SNAP.
Summer EBT would have provided $120 per child to families in need during the months when school cafeterias are closed. That may not sound like much, but for a low-income parent already making impossible choices between rent and groceries, it could mean the difference between skipping meals or not.
“Texas should be leading the nation in ensuring every child is fed, not turning down help when it’s offered.”
Rejecting these funds is not a stand against federal overreach. It is a choice to leave vulnerable children hungry in one of the most prosperous states in the nation. Texas should be leading the nation in ensuring every child is fed, not turning down help when it’s offered.
The proposed SNAP cuts referenced by Abbott in the so-called “big beautiful bill” will compound this harm. Gutting SNAP by $300 billion would mark the largest rollback of nutrition assistance in U.S. history, resulting in fewer eligible families, reduced monthly assistance and increased pressure on food banks already stretched thin.
Lawmakers concerned about the cost of these programs must realize there are considerable costs to doing nothing: Increased strain on emergency rooms, higher education remediation expenses and generational cycles of poverty that burden every taxpayer.
While our leaders stall and debate, communities on the ground — including churches, ministries and nonprofits like Fellowship Southwest — are picking up the pieces. These organizations are distributing food through local partnerships, supporting mobile pantries and providing lifelines to families caught in this policy crossfire. But the efforts of every nonprofit combined cannot make up for the collapse of government responsibility.
“The efforts of every nonprofit combined cannot make up for the collapse of government responsibility.”
Many of those working to feed their hungry neighbors are motivated by their faith. Baked into the Christian and Hebrew Scriptures are stories of nourishment. From God’s provision of manna from heaven to the Israelites in the wilderness, to the feeding of the 5,000, to the breaking of bread at the Last Supper, surely, we are meant to understand that food matters to God. Indeed, in Matthew 25 Jesus makes it clear: How we treat the hungry is how we treat him.
When Texas children come back to school in the fall with hunger pains, their eyes will drift to the new posters displaying the Ten Commandments in their classroom. If Texas proclaims to follow Christian values and instill morality in our children, we’ll need to do more than hang posters. Our actions speak louder than any words on a wall.
Children are going hungry this summer, not because we lack resources, but because we lack the political will to prioritize them. That must change. Our children deserve more than crumbs from the political table. They deserve full plates, full stomachs and lives full of opportunity.
Stephen Reeves serves as executive director of Fellowship Southwest, a faith-based nonprofit committed to the work of compassion and justice.