The @USDA delivered a huge victory for food equity on Monday:

The agriculture department announced it would be changing the way SNAP benefits are calculated, resulting in the largest increase in benefits in history.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides food assistance to 42 million people nationwide. Studies show marginalized Americans are more likely to live with food insecurity and to rely on SNAP benefits.
For example, roughly 13% of LGBTQ adults experience food insecurity—that’s more than *twice* the rate of non-LGBTQ adults.

A large percentage of those receiving SNAP benefits are people of color, disabled, or living below the poverty line.
According to @nytimes, under the new rules, a family receiving $121 per person before the pandemic will now receive $157. The expansion is permanent and does not require congressional approval.
“A modernized Thrifty Food Plan is more than a commitment to good nutrition—it’s an investment in our nation’s health, economy, and security.” —@SecVilsack
The new guidelines have also been updated to reflect changing nutritional recommendations, and to “reflect the true cost of a basic healthy diet,” as @POTUS told the USDA back in January.
With uncertainty about COVID-19 and the delta variant as schools and workplaces reopen, the increase to SNAP benefits, which go into effect in October 1, couldn’t come at a better time.
Food equity is reproductive justice. Ensuring *everyone* has access to basic necessities is a key tenet of reproductive justice, because without these things, self-determination and autonomy are not possible.
For more on how the Biden administration is shifting the country’s infrastructure to support families and individuals, and how these values align with reproductive justice, keep following us here and on Instagram @RewireNewsGroup.

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More from @RewireNewsGroup

17 Sep
Happy Friday to everyone, especially @GovKathyHochul, who announced a new agenda this week aimed at protecting and expanding abortion access for New Yorkers in response to Texas #SB8 and other anti-abortion laws across the country.
"Abortion access is safe in New York—the rights of those who are seeking abortion services will always be protected here …

To the women of Texas, I want to say I am with you. Lady Liberty is here to welcome you with open arms." —@GovKathyHochul
Here’s a quick look at what’s on that agenda:
👩‍⚕️launching a public information campaign to address patient rights
💻 expanding access to telemedicine abortion
🙅‍♀️ urging Facebook to combat misinformation about abortion.
Read 8 tweets
15 Sep
Did you know only 31% of state legislative seats are held by women—and just 4.82% are Black women?

The very nature of our state legislatures seems designed to incentivize already-privileged people to hold state elected office, @KellyBaden writes.

rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2021/0…
After Texas enacted its extreme abortion ban, states like Arkansas, North and South Dakota, and Florida are considering similar legislation.

What else do these states have in common?

rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2021/0…
Each is a part-time or hybrid legislature.

Arkansas legislators are 89% white and 76% male.

North Dakota’s legislature is 98% white and 79% male.
Read 5 tweets
25 Aug
If you’ve been following us here at Rewire News Group, you know that we are positively losing it about Texas #SB8, the 6-week (previability) abortion ban set to go into effect in one week.

Well, we’ve got some news on that front so strap in.
We’ve explained in previous threads that #SB8 is utterly bonkers because it deputizes private citizens to enforce the law by snitching on abortion providers and abortion “aiders and abetters.”

Here's one such thread:
Well we’ve got some exciting news on the “challenging this bonkers law” front.

On Monday, the lawyer who won a settlement for gymnasts abused by Team USA doctor Larry Nassar—her name is Michelle Simpson Tuegel—filed a lawsuit.

And we love it because it’s a very smart lawsuit.
Read 20 tweets
19 Aug
🚨 Bad news out of the federal courts 🚨

Yesterday the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Texas ban on the method of abortion most commonly used after 15 weeks’ gestation: dilation and evacuation (D&E).
The Texas law is effectively a 15-week pre-viability abortion ban. And you know what we say about those kinds of bans: They’re unconstitutional!

But the Fifth Circuit ignored the Constitution and upheld Texas’ law anyway.
“Texas has been hellbent on legislating abortion out of existence, and it is galling that a federal court would uphold a law that so clearly defies decades of Supreme Court precedent.” —Nancy Northrup, @ReproRights president and CEO
Read 16 tweets
18 Aug
🧵The federal bench looks a little different after Congress confirmed nine Biden-nominated judges to the federal judiciary this year—four of whom are Black women. Plus, two LGBTQ nominees are awaiting confirmation.

That’s a big deal. Let's get into it:
Until this year, only 8 Black women have been federal appeals court judges.

But as you may remember, our own @AngryBlackLady deemed 2021 the year of the Black lady lawyer.
rewirenewsgroup.com/ablc/2021/04/0…
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is the second Black woman to sit on the DC Circuit. She’s a former federal public defender who was nominated to fill Merrick Garland’s vacancy after he was chosen to head @TheJusticeDept.
Read 12 tweets
17 Aug
🧵The Reproductive Freedom Act would drastically improve abortion access in New Jersey, writes @nina_ecarg.

But despite support from the vast majority of New Jerseyans and @GovMurphy, the legislation is at a standstill.

rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2021/0…
The RFA would protect abortion access in New Jersey if the Supreme Court guts Roe v. Wade, but it would also expand access in the state.

Advocates say lawmakers shouldn’t wait for SCOTUS to act to pass this piece of legislation.
This is needed; this is urgent ... We don’t want to be reactive—we want to be proactive.” —@AnjaliNOW, @NOWNewJersey president
Read 7 tweets

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