70% of parents worry about cost of food. Where is Congress? | Opinion

With inflation at its highest in three years, families' budgets are being pushed beyond control, forcing impossible tradeoffs to keep food on the table for their kids.

The affordability crisis is squeezing families from both sides. Rising costs are requiring parents to skip meals and take on second jobs, while chaos manufactured by Congress is stripping SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) grocery benefits away from millions of Americans when they need it most.

As CEO of Share Our Strength, a national organization dedicated to ending hunger, I hear from parents who are experiencing this firsthand. Our new polling found 70% of parents worry they will have to choose between paying bills or emergency expenses and buying healthy food for their children.

The cost of groceries is also impacting how parents are able to show up for their kids ‒ beyond just keeping the refrigerator full. More than half of the parents we surveyed said their concerns about affording nutritious food affects day-to-day interactions with their children, and they or their partner have had to take on extra hours or jobs to alleviate financial stress. It's also affecting how their families might look in the future, with 51% of parents saying they are delaying having more children due to increased food costs.

Impact of record cuts to SNAP is swift ‒ and painful

In the midst of this economic fallout, families nationwide are also reeling from the impact of historic cuts to SNAP ‒ our nation's most effective anti-hunger program.

A year ago, Congress decimated our social safety net, making unprecedented cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, essential programs for families and kids.

SNAP alone helps more than 40 million people, including 1 in 5 kids. The groceries program was designed to be responsive to our economy: expanding to keep pantries full when families fall on hard times, and contracting when conditions improve. That's exactly what the parents we surveyed told us: 85% noted that SNAP was a bridge to a better financial situation.

It's not often that the impact of congressional action is so swift, or so painful. But in less than 12 months, more than 4 million people have lost their SNAP benefits. In the 13 states with data available, already more than 800,000 kids have lost benefits, making it clear the crisis will only get worse.

And we're just at the tip of the iceberg.

Hunger does not exist in a vacuum

States are about to be hit with a one-two punch. On top of footing more of the bill to administer SNAP for 2026, they will also have to pay for a portion of the program's benefit costs for the first time ever, based on their payment error rate.

SNAP payment error rates do not indicate fraud; they measure whether benefits were issued in the correct amount, which will be even more challenging for states taking on higher administrative costs while implementing other new rules.

Accuracy is critical, but there are already systems in place to ensure that improper payments are corrected. For many states, the benefit cost share will be severe, forcing even deeper cuts to SNAP or other state-funded programs and services, such as education.

Solving this crisis requires a multifaceted solution. That falls first to Congress, which can take immediate action to ease the pain it has inflicted on American families.

The farm bill, which is under consideration in the Senate, is another chance to change course. Senators should act swiftly to extend the SNAP cost shift delays to all states equally and provide families the relief they deserve. Without action, we can expect to see a nationwide spike in child hunger.

Over the long term, Congress must repeal these brutal cuts to SNAP.

We must also acknowledge that hunger does not exist in a vacuum. It's rooted in low wages, unaffordable childcare and other barriers that make it hard for families to get ahead.

We must invest in building economic mobility for families through strategies that boost incomes and provide lasting stability, like job training and expanding the child tax credit. Congress must step in to protect SNAP, but rebuilding our social safety net requires fostering economic mobility as well.

The ability to afford groceries is quietly reshaping American families as parents are squeezed by rising costs and being cut off from the support they need to weather the storm. Our ability to solve this crisis relies just as much on political will as global economics ‒ and the stakes go far beyond a hungry summer for kids.

Anne Filipic is CEO of Share Our Strength, a national organization dedicated to ending hunger.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 70% of parents worry about cost of food. Where is Congress? | Opinion

Reporting by Anne Filipic, Opinion contributor / USA TODAY

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This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 11:55 AM.