PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria-area Congressman is raising concerns over food insecurity with a visit to a food bank.
17th District Congressman Eric Sorensen (D-Moline) visited the Midwest Food Bank in Peoria on Thursday morning, taking a tour of the facility and visiting with the organization’s leaders.
Sorensen says places like the Midwest Food Bank are needed, especially with uncertainties over funding for food assistance programs in Washington.
“It is here because A) there is a need, but B) because we’re in a caring community that takes care of one another,” Sorensen said.
Sorensen says “not every community” has an organization such as the Midwest Food Bank, which he says has pallets of food to fill whatever need the community has. He says there is a “community that is worried” about food insecurity, but the visit and tour gave him optimism.
Midwest Food Bank CEO Eric Hodel eased some of the Congressman’s concerns about food supplies. He says there was some uncertainty, especially with a pause in funding for the Illinois Eats program, which buys produce from farmers to give to underserved communities. Hodel says the program has been restored, and the Midwest Food Bank has funding and a variety of options to gather food, if such pauses occurred again.
Sorensen also addressed his concerns about potential funding changes to the SNAP program. House Republicans have proposed work requirements and modifications to what can be purchased with SNAP funds.
Sorensen says his biggest concern with cuts could mean lost profits for grocery stores, which could lead to negative ripple effects.
“If you’re running a grocery store and you’re losing 25% of your profit, you’re going to close your grocery store,” Sorensen said. “So what does that mean in the future for food deserts? It means people are going to be disconnected from their neighborhood food.”
Sorensen says he would like to see some reforms to the program. He says that includes the ability to buy more proteins and hot foods with SNAP benefits.
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