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Following remarks by A.G. Call and our speakers, we will have some time for questions.
If you would like to ask a question at that time, please raise your hand and I will call on you in the order in which you raised it.
I will also repeat these directions once our speakers are concluded.
And with that, let's get started. I'll hand things over to A.G. Call. Thanks.
Great. Thank you, Riley. Thank you, everybody else for joining us.
I am Attorney General Josh Call and I am happy to be joined today by Amber Dawgs,
who's the CEO and founder of Grow It Forward in Manitowoc.
I'm also joined by Bianca Lewis, who's the founder of a Cry For Help Foundation in Milwaukee.
And we are here today to talk about SNAP.
As we announced earlier today, my administration has joined a number of A.G.s,
as well as three governors from around the country in filing a lawsuit today challenging the position that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken,
which is that it's going to stop providing funding for the SNAP program,
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as of November 1st.
We have argued in our suit that this action is unlawful.
Throughout SNAP's history, a government shutdown has never stopped states from distributing these critical benefits to those who need them.
So this lawsuit is about protecting food share funding and preventing Wisconsinites and millions of others from around the country from losing access to what can be life sustaining food assistance as the government shutdown moves forward.
I think it's important to note how widespread the use of this program is.
There are more than 40 million Americans who rely on SNAP.
That includes more than 690,000 people here in Wisconsin.
It's about one in eight Wisconsinites.
They use SNAP to buy food each month.
That includes approximately 170,000 children, 110,000 older adults,
and roughly 19,000 veterans just here in Wisconsin.
Nearly 60% of food share participants in Wisconsin are in families with children and nearly half are in working families.
For many families that rely on SNAP, access to that program is the difference between having enough to eat and going hungry.
Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has claimed that there's not enough money available to pay full November benefits,
but the USDA has access to contingency funds that Congress specifically set aside for emergencies like this.
We've argued that failing to use those funds would violate federal harm, federal law, and cause real harm to people in this country.
It's also inconsistent with a position that USDA itself took at the beginning of October.
We cannot allow Wisconsinites to lose access to food share benefits when there are resources in place that can be used to keep this program running.
This one, by the way, not only have serious implications for folks who rely on SNAP to buy food, but would also put a significant burden on communities, including food banks and food pantries.
So that's why we filed the suit. We're going to be seeking a temporary restraining order to restore these critical food share benefits.
I want to stress that the challenge we are facing here is not that we don't have the resources as a nation to fund this program.
We do what we are not in the midst of an economic collapse.
What we are missing right now is leadership from the federal government in Washington, and the leadership we need at USDA.
That's what makes the difference between whether families are going to be harmed by the stop of benefits in this program or not.
So we brought this suit and we're hoping to bring relief to the Wisconsinites who would be impacted by this.
So that I'm going to turn it over to Amber Dawes.
Thank you, Agile.
25 years ago, I was food insecure, and I know what it feels like to stretch a few dollars and still fall short.
To have to choose between paying a bill or buying groceries.
The food share snap program was my lifeline.
And it gave me dignity and stability to rebuild my life, and that experience is what led me to found grow it forward.
We are a community food center based demand to walk and dedicated to ensuring that no one in our community has to face hunger alone.
And for growing forward's mission is to provide dignified access to good food.
And through our community food center, we operate a food pantry, a weekly community meal, a hydroponic farm, a garden and a winter farmers market.
All designed to not just feed people, but to empower and strengthen local food connections.
In the past year alone, we've served over 1,800 individuals.
These are families, seniors, and children who depend on healthy, reliable food.
But lately, we're seeing a record need and fewer resources to meet it.
The reality in Manage Park County is that Manage Park County ranks number three in Wisconsin for the percentage of farmers market sales made using food share.
That's behind done and dang counties.
That means that families here in Manage Park County, they want to buy local fresh food when they have the means to do so.
But the average food share benefit in Manage Park County is an average of $4.91 per person per day, barely enough to cover a single meal, let alone milk, meat, eggs, or produce.
When the benefits are reduced, the pressure on local organizations like ours skyrockets.
At growth forward are already rationing food, limiting how often families can come and how often we are able to provide protein and produce that we give out, because demand right now exceeds the donations and inventory available.
While we're already doing everything we can to provide our neighbors or community members in need, we simply do not have enough philanthropic threshold to replace what is going to be lost.
We're talking about a million dollars in food share in Manage Park County that currently circulates our grocery stores and our markets.
Again, no amount of fundraising on my behalf can fill that potential gap.
Snap is not just a social program, it's an economic engine for every $1 and snap that is generating in our community over $1.50 and local economic activity.
Those dollars go straight into grocery stores into farmers markets to local farms and to local food producers.
When benefits are cut, everyone feels that families, small businesses, farmers, and nonprofits alike.
Reduce SNAP benefits mean fewer grocery sales, less money circulating locally, and increase pressure on food pantries and community meals sites that are already stretched thin.
And for communities like Manage Walk, where the philanthropic pool is modest, it's not just a funding challenge.
It's an existential one.
The SNAP is essential to food access ecosystems everywhere. It is the backbone of Wisconsin's food access ecosystem.
To ensure dignity and choice, food share allows families to shop for its food that fits its nutritional and health needs.
It strengthens local agriculture and sustains our small town food economy.
The SNAP falters, the entire system begins to bend.
And community programs like ours begins to be the safety net for the safety net.
But charity cannot replace federal nutrition programs, not in Manage Walk, not anywhere.
So what does this mean for Manage Walk and for grow it forward.
Here in Manage Walk, we pride ourselves on being a community that takes care of its own.
But even the most generous community cannot make up for a million dollar potential whole this following month.
Strengthening SNAP means strengthening local families, small businesses and farms. It keeps food on tables and hopes in our home, especially as we are heading into the holiday season.
Food share is about more than just food. It's about opportunity and dignity and the economic health of our entire community.
Again, I know firsthand what it means to rely on food share to make it through the week.
Today I stand here, not just as someone who once needed help, but as someone who now sees every single day, how that help transforms lives.
We must invest in people's ability to buy food. We must invest in their health, their dignity and our local economy.
And at Grow It Forward, we believe in building a stronger Manage Walk, one seed, one meal, one neighbor at a time. Thank you.
And we'll now hand things over to Bianca.
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bianca Lewis. I'm the founder of a Craft for Health Foundation here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
I want to speak, not just as a food share recipient, but also as a mother, a young mother in our community.
I know for a fact that if food share doesn't come on a lot of cars for November, a lot of families I work with, I advocate for a lot of family members and friends and people in general in our community will definitely go hurt by this.
They definitely will go hungry. We have so many children in our community that already is hungry already are homeless and facing so many barriers.
So because of food share could potentially be delayed for December, I mean November and December, this would affect so many people health, affect our community.
People will do things that they shouldn't do. And because of that, it's going to bring so much harm, just not to the individual, to the parents, to business owners, to the children's, to the schools, to the food pantries and farms.
Myself, growing up in the inner city here in Milwaukee, I went nights without food. I went days without having a proper meal because my grandparents and my parents were trying to stretch to make a dollar and stretch to make a meal.
My family should go hungry. No family should go without without these snap benefits. I know so many children would be affected by this going to school waking up.
Just be affected by this so many parents have children with disabilities, just like me. I have a two year old son named a legend with a disability.
And without the snap benefits, I know my son would be affected by this. And because he will be affected by this, we will most likely be in and out of children's hospital, because I'm unable to provide for him without the snap benefits because I know I use a portion of the snap
benefits to get the PDF sure and the PDF like that he needs. I am asking, not just for me, but for my community in Milwaukee, all around the surrounding areas, we need these snap benefits because I know, once again, the harm it can do, just not to the parents to the community, but the overall state of Wisconsin.
And not only that, I would like to mention that there's so many homeless people, they are already homeless. They are already gone without they're already at the, the worst end at the end of everything they ready to give up.
So without these benefits, they're going to really what else do we have full pantries are going to be just packed to capacity.
We want to go without these benefits. No one deserves to have to wonder when the next mill is going to come. No one deserves to have to wake up to figure out if sending a kids to school was going to feed them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
It's not fair. And I honestly believe without these benefits. So many people will be impacted by this. And so my hope and prayer today is someone will help us come save our snap benefits for Wisconsin.
And moving forward, we all work together collectively as a community to help feed everyone and help bring back these snap benefits for November.
Thank you very much. We will now go to questions from media members. If you do have a question, please raise your hand and I will call on you in the order in which you raised it.
If you are on a phone, you can press star six to mute or mute yourself or star nine to raise or lower your hand. Our first question comes from Matt Smith.
I'm sorry about that. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes.
I know this is looking into a crystal ball. What is the likelihood that there will be some type of decision before Friday and logistically what does this all mean with Saturday quickly approaching.
Well, first, as you said, you know, we don't know exactly what's going to happen in court. That being said, we are going to seek a quick relief in this case, including a temporary restraining order.
But because that that date is coming up so soon, the quicker that there is potential relief, the more likely it is that we can not only get a favorable outcome, but get an outcome that is going to make a difference for people as we move forward.
There already is going to be some impact because the administrative process that that states go through has been impacted already.
We can get an order the better. We are optimistic about this case, as I mentioned before, there has never been a government shutdown previously when SNAP benefits were cut off.
The USDA itself had taken a position at the beginning of October that these funds would continue.
And there are reserve funds in place for this purpose. So, I believe we have a strong case, and we're going to seek a quick resolution.
So, I think that we can control that from the courts.
Thank you, Matt. And I don't see any other hands raised right now. So, I'll just give people a few moments to raise their hands. If you do want to ask a question.
Again, if you are on a phone, you can press star six to mute or unmute yourself and star nine to raise or lower your hand.
And it looks like we have one additional follow up from Matt.
And it looks like he declined that one. Just a few more moments if anyone else has a question.
Dan Silver.
And we're getting my own loaded up as a panelist. We just a moment.
Hi there. Hi, attorney general call. I've got a couple of quick questions. Is there anything that you see can be done within the state of Wisconsin within the, you know, the legislative branch.
Any sort of developments that could happen as a result of this lawsuit that legislators would decide to do something in Wisconsin and also could you weigh in on the on the food drive effort happening in Milwaukee and Milwaukee County.
If that's going to be like a drop in the bucket for what people need.
Yeah, well, first let me speak to what's going on the state and I think Amber and Bianca may want to weigh in on food drive efforts and food pantries as well.
So first, my understanding is that the legislative leaders at the center of Felskowski has indicated that there is unlikely to be any state legislation on this topic.
If that's something the legislature wants to take up certainly that's potentially of interest, although I will say that as the shutdown continues the strain on a variety of resources, including food share benefits is just going to increase.
And so what we really need is resolution of this issue at the federal level so that the government is able to reopen and that programs can return to operating as normal.
In terms of the impact.
As Amber talked about and I'm sure she and Bianca can speak more to snap is the backbone of food security programs and the critically important work that food pantries and food banks do that supplements what what snap is able to do if we lose snap access.
Food pantries are going to be overrun with people and the more that people can do to support those who are struggling the better but but we are very much looking at a situation where we may have folks waiting in very long lines just to be able to access food.
Again, not because we are in the middle of an economic catastrophe, but because we're in the midst of a failure of leadership from DC.
And as soon as this can be resolved the better, and it's our hope that this suit will ensure that those benefits remain in place for a period of time.
And hopefully provide more time before people are harmed by this shutdown.
Amber and Bianca if you want to speak to the food drive.
Many food drives taking place already here in Manitouac County, a recent one though, return 33% less food donations than the year prior.
So we are already seeing a deduction in philanthropic capacity, generally because grocery costs are so much higher for folks. So, you know, people who maybe donate in the past are struggling to do so when they're trying to feed their own families without the snap benefits in place.
Additionally, we did see already an increase in attendance this last week at our pantry. People are stocking up to be prepared so a lot of new families joining our pantry when ourselves are already quite there.
And any donation is greatly appreciated whether that before our organization or others throughout our county.
So I would like to speak here in Milwaukee, we have set up three different dates that we will be given our food, we expect them to see in between 75 to 100 families for all three days.
We will be releasing those dates here on this Thursday and I'll be welcome to share with anyone who's interested in getting those days.
They won't need an ID or anything, but they address on it. They can just pull up and it will begin these food.
And we'll now head to final call for any questions. Again, if you have a question, please raise your hand.
And we'll go to Celine from the daily cardinal and just a reminder, you will need to accept the invitation as a panelist to be able to speak.
We can hear you. Oh, great. Hi, my question was.
Do you have any idea of how the loss of food share spending will affect our economy like grocery stores and small businesses.
Yeah, I can speak to it generally. As you heard, I believe Amber talked about before, we know that the impact of food share dollars goes beyond just the money that is directly spent, and that it actually generates further economic activity.
So the loss of a significant amount of funding here in Wisconsin as well as other states around the country is going to have some significant economic consequences. It's going to impact.
It could impact farmers if this drags on. And of course it impacts the people who rely on this program. How broad those impacts are we don't know yet, but, but this is an issue that is, to your point is, is a humanitarian issue, of course, because we have people who may not know where their next meal is going to be.
But this is going to impact people's productivity. It's going to impact the ability of kids to learn. And it's going to impact our economy as well.
Great. Thank you for that question. And that will conclude today's press conference. I want to thank everyone for joining. Thank you.
Thank you everyone.