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In a recent article entitled "Families Brace As Billions In Food Stamp Cuts Set In" written by Jeff Cox, a writer for CNBC.com, Jeff describes a recent event that will change the lives of many Americans.

The American government has been struggling to come up with a plan to balance the budget. In the first paragraph, Jeff claimed Congress is making budget cuts for food stamps that will "siphon $5 billion off a program that helps one in seven Americans." The food stamp program helps many Americans put at least some food on the table. The program is a safety net that catches Americans as they fall into hard times. The Americans that use the program, making too little money to buy food, now fear food stamps will not be enough to provide them food.

Many Americans get some food from food banks, a place to get food, a resource for hungry people. The reporter stated in the second paragraph that "Margaret Purvis," the president of the Food Bank for New York City, "expects those cuts will draw even more people to organizations." Facing economic troubles, there will be more people showing up at the food banks. Drawing people in, the NYC Food Bank already serves 400,000 meals a day. Many food banks are now warning people that the lines will be longer due to the cuts to food stamps; consequently a lot of Americans will be looking to the food banks to keep food on their tables.

Cutting back on food stamps will have negative consequences on local shops. Jeff stated in his article that grocers "benefit when food stamp users shop in their stores." Stores need costumers to buy their products. There are "47.6 million Americans" that use the food stamp program. With the budget cuts, a large percent of Americans will be shopping less at a grocery store. While many stores will be fine, the cuts will still impact the stores income.

I was once using food stamps. Household income was very low, and there were a lot of mouths to feed. Even though the budget was still tight, we were able to get some decent food. Now, the income is higher and we no longer use food stamps. However, I understand how important food stamps are to Americans.

The reducing of food stamp money will negatively change the lives of Americans that depend on the program, causing food banks to have more traffic in the near future.

Cox, Jeff. "Families Brace As Billions In Food Stamp Cuts Set In." NBC News.
      1 Nov. 2013. Web. 9 Nov. 2013.