Food: a Necessity, Not a Choice

Realizing What Families Are Going Through Should Be Enough to Ensure We Fund SNAP

Leslie Gracia
April 21, 2026

Growing up I remember my family struggling to make ends meet to the point where we almost lost our house. My dad worked in construction but then had an accident where his thumb got cut off due to a brick falling on him while working. After this incident, he struggled to find a job and he was the main household provider. My mom had just given birth to my younger sister, so that meant that a lot of the money went toward baby necessities.

My mom would also take care of the neighbors’ children for free, and I would see how my mom would put food on everybody else’s plates while her plate would be filled with any remaining food. It was not until my parents applied for SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often referred to as food stamps) that we would see the refrigerator and pantry full of food.

My family’s experience with food insecurity allows me to see other families struggling with food insecurity as if they were my own. It is so hard to see parents struggling the way mine did to provide food on the table or not eating enough so that they can give more food to their children.

NETWORK Executive Director Laurie Carafone and NETWORK Fellow Ralph McCloud protest cuts to human needs programs in the federal budget at the People’s Pantry event in Washington, D.C. in 2025.

I currently attend St. Vincent DePaul University, named for the saint whose mission is to defend against hunger and poverty. St. Vincent would distribute bread and soup to the starving population in France. His mission was based off the Corporal Works of Mercy outlined in the Gospel of Matthew. For I was hungry and you gave me food” (Mt 25:35). In the Catholic Church it is a reminder to feed people who are hungry and take care of those who are impacted by poverty.

St. Nicholas also answered the call to feed the hungry by asking ship captains to donate food to those in need At first the captains rejected St. Nicholas’ pleas, but when St. Nicholas promised the captains that in God’s name their cargo would not lessen, the captains ended up donating. His story inspires me to advocate and organize to provide food to those who need it. Lobbying your representatives, whether that is meeting with them in person, via a video call, a letter, or a phone call, can bring awareness to the need to fund SNAP.

My passion for keeping SNAP funded comes from personal experiences and religious beliefs. Nobody deserves to go on with their day or for several days starving. We all deserve access to food because it is a necessity that can impact every aspect of our lives. For example, food insecurity, can exacerbate or even cause a variety of health issues; which is another problem on its own because health care is already unaffordable.

SNAP supports parents who feel guilty for not being able to provide food for their family, children who struggle to stay awake while in school because they are hungry, and many others. No family should have to go through what my family went through. We know SNAP is an effective way to alleviate hunger while people get back on their feet. It is important that we continue to bring awareness to SNAP and similar programs in order to fix our hunger crisis.

Leslie Gracia is a student at DePaul University and a Sr. Carol Coston Fellow in NETWORK’s Young Advocates Leadership Lab (Y.A.L.L.).