Central Florida’s Puerto Rican community is at the center of a national fight over a bill that is renewed every 5 years by elected leaders in D.C.
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The ‘Farm Bill’ funds food and agriculture programs across the country including the SNAP program.
SNAP replaced Food Stamps and allows low-income U.S. Citizens to purchase food for their families.
Through SNAP a family of four living in the continental U.S. can collect a maximum of $973 a month for food purchases.
But, Puerto Ricans on the island haven’t been included in the program since the 1980.
Data from UCF’s Puerto Rico hub shows over 400,000 Puerto Ricans live in Central Florida, and many now want their loved ones back on the island to have access to SNAP benefits.
“Benefits were taken away from Puerto Ricans in 1981 and since then we have been asking for the program to be reinstalled in the …