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By Sarah Kaufman

“I just fundamentally believe that every person deserves to eat,” U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes said during a recent visit to ������Ƶ.

Rep. Hayes was on campus on June 9 for a roundtable discussion on proposed cuts to 2023 Farm Bill before Congress. Participants included Central President Zulma R. Toro, state Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt, End Hunger Connecticut Executive Director Julieth Callejas, Connecticut Foodshare President Jason Jakubowski, students, and representatives of other assistance organizations.

Despite Central’s low tuition and generous aid for students, Toro said many of its students struggle with food insecurity. This has made Maria’s Place, the campus food pantry, a vital component of campus life.

“Every year we do a survey of our students. At least 49 percent of them have reported experience with food insecurity,” Toro said. “In the middle of Connecticut, a state that is supposed to be so wealthy, we are failing that challenge.”

Hayes said the issue of food insecurity is very personal for her. As a former single mother and public-school teacher, she has seen hungry children in the classroom. She also has been the person in need of assistance with buying food.

“When I initially got elected and went to Congress, everybody expected me to be on the education committee. My second choice of committee was agriculture. People didn’t get it. While every member of Congress may not represent a farming community, I do. But everybody represents people who eat,” Hayes said. “Hungry kids do not learn, and people have to say that.”

Callejas said the recent raising of the debt ceiling shows that Congress can get legislation passed.

“We have compromised on the debt ceiling. We know that Congress is divided and that we can have compromise,” she said. “What are the things we are giving up?”

Hayes said some good things in the bill are protections for veterans and the homeless. And while she said she does not have a problem with people being required to work to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), she believes many of the rules are archaic.

“I want people to work, but the requirements are so stringent, it will cost states more to administer the program,” she said. “For young adults who are students, it doesn’t take school into account. People have to work 20 hours a week. What if you are attending school full-time?”

State Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw said it is up to white people like herself to change the narrative.

“I have never seen the advocacy from people in Canton for making the school lunch free like I did during the pandemic,” she said. “It should be that all kids get their school meals that way so there is not stigma.”

Volunteering with Foodshare, she said she saw high-end luxury vehicles in the lines to receive boxes of food. People who were doctors and lawyers found themselves in the new position of not being able to feed their families.

“We do see people who come back to Foodshare and want to give,” Kavros DeGraw said. “The more people who look like me that get involved, the more likely we will be able to change things. It used to be that you didn’t have to have the experience to be able to talk about an issue. Now these people have the experience.”

Foodshare’s Jakubowski said the assistance Foodshare provides to people doesn’t even scratch the surface of the need.

“The reality is for every meal we are able to provide at a Foodshare, SNAP is able to provide 10,” he said. “Even if you took all the food from all the food banks across the country, you wouldn’t even be able to come close to the benefits that SNAP provides.”

Hayes said one of the things she learned from the pandemic is that the country could mobilize government quickly to get assistance to people in need.

“I was in the Congress and the pandemic hit and what I learned was, ‘Wait, we have the ability to do this?’” she said. “We have the ability and capability to do this, we just don’t have the will. People don’t give dignity and value to the people who are recipients of these programs. All these conversations about work requirements don’t matter if the worker is not making a living wage.”