Biden-Harris Administration Must Make Hunger a Priority in its First 100 Days
Anti-hunger advocates welcome President Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States and Vice President Kamala Harris as first woman and woman of color to fill this role. Abby J. Leibman, MAZON’s President & CEO, praised the Biden-Harris Administration for prioritizing anti-hunger measures and shared the following statement about MAZON’s goals for the new Administration:
“As we begin a new chapter in our nation’s history, we are grateful that the new Administration has demonstrated an understanding of the breadth and depth of hunger in America and the federal government’s vital role in responding to it. We see this most clearly in its centering of hunger in its COVID-19 response plan. President Biden and Vice President Harris clearly recognize that addressing food insecurity will not only help millions of Americans who are struggling now — it will also help our economy recover from this crisis.
“MAZON has long understood that millions of Americans need assistance but are barred from the life-saving support of programs like SNAP, due to arcane technical and systemic barriers. We are confident that the new Administration understands that expanding SNAP must be at the center of their anti-hunger plan, and we are eager to work with them to remove barriers to nutrition assistance facing military families, those living on Tribal lands, and households headed by single mothers.
The staggering rates of food insecurity and racial disparities across the country require a swift and effective response from our federal government. Now more than ever, our leaders must govern with wisdom and compassion — reversing harmful and discriminatory Trump-era restrictions to nutrition assistance, eliminating systemic racism and sexism that drives people to hunger, centering marginalized voices and vulnerable groups in the fight against hunger, and reframing the public narrative around poverty and food insecurity.
“We know that it’s possible to end hunger in the United States and we look forward to working with the Biden-Harris Administration and the 117th Congress to realize our shared vision that no one faces hunger in this land of plenty.”