By Hazel Gurland

For millions of people across the nation, food insecurity is a reality faced every day. These men, women, and children eat cheaper, less nutritious foods and often skip meals. Much-needed relief has been offered to the approximately 45 million Americans who receive assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.

Beginning this year, however, up to a million of the poorest Americans could be cut off SNAP. Those categorized as able-bodied adults between the ages of 18-49 without dependents are only allowed to obtain SNAP benefits for three months in a three-year period if they aren’t working or in a job-training program. During the Great Recession, when joblessness skyrocketed, many states waived this time-limit requirement. But now that unemployment rates are dropping, fewer states qualify for this waiver.

So, starting next month, SNAP beneficiaries who are able-bodied and childless unemployed adults may lose their nutritional support. And, while the loss of between $150 to $170 per person per month for food may not seem like much, according to the progressive think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, it is because those most at risk of losing this benefit have average monthly incomes of approximately 17 percent of the poverty line – about $2,000 per year for a single-person household.

While some states believe that these work requirements will boost the workforce, Drexel University public health professor Mariana Chilton argues that SNAP is not a work program. “It’s a nutrition program. It promotes health and well-being.”

To tell us more about food insecurity and these SNAP cuts, Mariana Chilton sat down with our host Megan Thompson.