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Tennessee hunger-fighting advocates warn that proposed cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly food stamps, could deepen food insecurity as the budget reconciliation bill returns to the House.

More than 711,000 Tennesseans rely on the program, many in families with children.

Rhonda Chafin, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee, said the cuts could hit nearly 4 in 10 Americans and be “devastating” for low-income families in rural Tennessee.

“This is one of the most harmful bills to hunger relief, simply because of the drastic cuts to a key program,” she said. “And this bill on the Senate side — $200 billion over 10 years — is planned to be cut to the SNAP program.”

Chafin added that, according to Feeding America, the proposed cuts would reduce critical SNAP support up to 9 billion meals each year for people facing hunger and could lead to at least 8 million people losing their health care coverage from Medicaid.

The budget bill is expected to reach President Donald Trump’s desk by Friday.

Chafin added Second Harvest would not be able to fill the gap if federal meal programs are cut. Despite extra aid after recent natural disasters, donations are down, USDA shipments have been reduced, and the organization has already had to trim its budget.

“If we see cuts to SNAP, and we’ve already received cuts in federal commodity, and we’re seeing that our donations are down, potentially, someone is going to go without food that they were depending on SNAP, and we’re not going to have enough food to fill the gap and provide for them,” she continued.

Chafin added their eight-county region covers more than 3,000 square miles, with more than 70 mobile pantries and 110 agency partners supporting 330 monthly food distribution sites.