ARLINGTON, VA — August 6, 2010 — The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) issued the following statement by Jennifer Hatcher, senior vice president of government and public affairs, about yesterday’s passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in the U.S. Senate:

“We are pleased the Senate passed legislation to ensure low-income children continue to receive nutritious meals through the federal food program. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act includes provisions FMI has sought to help lay the groundwork for a smooth transition for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) customers to use an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card for their transactions at grocery stores. This is a very positive development and we applaud Senators Lincoln and Chambliss for their work on it.

We are, however, disappointed that the Senate cut funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $1.3 billion. Although this cut is not immediate, taking place in 2013, it is on top of another cut to SNAP (2014-2016) that was made earlier in the day on Thursday (in H.R. 1586, the state assistance bill on teacher pay and Federal Medical Assistance Percentage extension).”