No one, including veterans and military families, should go hungry because of political decisions. Yet active-duty service members, veterans, and their families are among the tens of millions of Americans who are losing critical food assistance due to recent policy changes.
MAZON has launched a petition inviting members of the military and veteran community and those who support them to call on Congress to act.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA) became law in July of 2025, imposing devastating cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Since then, low-income families across the country have been stripped of the grocery benefits they need to keep food on the table.
In just over a year, more than 5 million people have already lost SNAP, including about 2 million children. Many military and veteran families are among them.
Why Veterans and Military Families Are at Risk
The data is imperfect, but we know that about 1.3 million veterans receive SNAP. Only a fraction of food-insecure veterans who live in SNAP-eligible households enroll in the program. Eligible veterans are also less likely to use SNAP than civilians who qualify. Part of the reason is inconsistent education and screening, with persistent stigma also playing a role.
Hunger is also a serious problem for military families. By the Pentagon’s own estimates, one in four military families struggled to consistently put food on the table. Recent estimates from military family advocacy groups have placed that statistic even higher. Some military families rely on SNAP to help cover gaps in their household budgets. Others are blocked from the program because their Basic Allowance for Housing counts as income, making their incomes appear too high and disqualifying them from the benefits they need and deserve.
A Petition from the Military and Veteran Community
Advocates nationwide, led by MAZON, are calling on Congressional leadership to reverse course and protect SNAP from further harm. Veterans and military family members can add their voices through our petition, and so can members of the public.
Through OBBBA, Congress imposed billions of dollars in new, unfunded SNAP costs on states, and states are already warning they cannot afford them. States and counties are being forced to make impossible choices to keep their programs running. When states cannot afford SNAP, hungry people pay the price. Our petition asks Congress to delay the state SNAP benefit cost shift from the federal government to states, without harmful offsets, before the end of the year.
A National Day of Action on Veterans Day
We are also calling for a National SNAP Day of Action this Veterans Day, November 11, to shine a light on the persistent issue of hunger among veterans and military families. Use our toolkit to share on social media and amplify this message with your communities.
Our brave service members and veterans defend this country. They also fight for a country where no one faces the pain and indignity of hunger. It is long past time for Congress to join them. MAZON is urging Congressional leadership to address the policy barriers keeping these communities food insecure and to act before the situation gets worse.
Sign our petition and share it with the veterans, military families, and allies in your life. Then join us on November 11 for a day of action.