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According to the groups, Hurricanes Maria, Fiona and Covid-19 made clear how Puerto Rico’s overreliance on food imports — 85% of the what’s consumed on the island is imported — left families vulnerable as food supplies dwindled when shipments couldn’t reach the island.
Congress is currently considering a farm bill that would set the legal framework for agricultural and food policy in U.S. and its territories for the next five years.
Puerto Rican farmers and their allies are pushing for the U.S. territory to transition to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP or food stamps, which is used in the 50 states.
Currently, Puerto Rico’s Nutrition Assistance Program is funded through block grants that can’t be readjusted after they’ve been approved, even if there’s increased need after a natural disaster like a hurricane.
This leaves the food assistance program that benefits nearly half (46 percent) of the island’s population facing funding cliffs almost every year, putting the local government in the tough position of either keeping all enrollees in the program and cutting back their benefits or reduce the number of enrollees in order to keep current benefit rates.
Advocates are also looking to include a legislative proposal that would maximize nutritional assistance funds by allocating half of all federal funds granted to Puerto Rico through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support farmers through the Puerto Rico Food Sovereignty Program, according to the Chicago-based advocacy group the Puerto Rican Cultural Center.
According to the group, the proposal has garnered the support of Rep. Delia Ramírez, D-Ill., 13 Puerto Rican mayors and the University of Puerto Rico’s Agricultural Science College as well as elected officials in several states and the Sustainable Agriculture Community Land Trust.
Groups are also calling for an end to tax incentives under Act 60, designed to attract wealthy investors from outside the island, as well as corporations that could export goods and services.
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