Pastoral Letter on Statewide Hunger Relief

Dear Church,

Due to the recent federal government shutdown, funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) lapsed on November 1st, leaving 2.8 million of our neighbors (more than half including families with children) without means of accessing enough fresh, healthy food and adequate nutrition. Our nutrition security system was inadequate even before the shutdown began, providing only a bare minimum of support. The lapse in SNAP benefits has also been catastrophic for so many of our local communities depending on the economic activity generated through the SNAP program. Every SNAP dollar generates an estimated $1.50 in economic activity, supporting farmers, food retailers, and small businesses across the region (NY Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance).

As Lutherans who make a baptismal promise “to strive for peace and justice in all the earth,” we can be guided in this difficult moment by our 1999 Social Statement on Economic Life, “Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All:”

“Sufficiency” means adequate access to income and other resources that enable people to meet their basic needs, including nutrition, clothing, housing, health care, personal development, and participation in community with dignity. God has created a world of sufficiency for all, providing us daily and abundantly with all the necessities of life. In many countries, the problem is not the lack of resources, but how they are shared, distributed, and made accessible within society. Justice seeks fairness in how goods, services, income, and wealth are allocated among people so that they can acquire what they need to live... We call for government to provide adequate income assistance and related services for citizens, documented immigrants, and refugees who are unable to provide for their livelihood through employment.

I give thanks for the congregations of the Upstate New York Synod for the many and various ways they step into the gap of food insecurity sharing love by feeding neighbors through food pantries, community meals, food banks and food trucks. I have seen the hard work of the leaders and volunteers of these programs which are essential to carry out the work that is needed.

Reflecting our baptismal call, and amplifying the priorities of leading statewide anti-hunger organizations including Feeding New York State, Hunger Solutions New York and the Alliance for a Hunger Free New York, the ELCA Upstate New York Synod encourages all members and congregations to reflect on how we can advocate in the upcoming New York State legislative cycle to supplement critical federal programs like SNAP that combat nutrition insecurity:

• Fully fund Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) and Nourish New York: Statewide hunger relief programs serve as a backstop for New Yorkers working to make ends meet, as well as families excluded from federal nutrition programs. Especially considering recent changes to SNAP access, ensuring all New Yorkers have consistent access to healthy food in their community must be a top priority. That is why New York must continue to support the work of emergency food programs by providing $75 million for HPNAP and $75 million for Nourish New York in the FY2027 budget.

• Provide state funding to ensure all New Yorkers receive a monthly SNAP benefit of at least $100. Federal changes in SNAP budgeting rules may increase the number of our neighbors who receive the minimum benefit of just $23 per month according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which is wholly inadequate to meaningfully support a month of food costs. Guaranteeing a more adequate monthly benefit can also help increase SNAP participation rates and draw down more federal dollars into our state’s economy. The FY2027 budget should include $100.1 million to provide a state supplement establishing a $100 minimum SNAP benefit.

Please contact Governor Hochul, your State Senators and State Assemblymembers to support these critical nutrition security programs.

Please mark your calendars for Lutheran Day at the Capitol in Albany on Tuesday, March 10th, 2025 as we gather to prayerfully support these and other critical programs in line with our baptismal call to “strive for peace and justice in all the earth” and our ELCA Social Statements.

Yours in Christ,

Bishop Lee M. Miller II