Today, the Senate begins its confirmation hearings of Donald Trump's picks for his cabinet, and first up is Jeff Sessions, the wildly polarizing attorney general nominee. Sessions, currently the junior US senator from Alabama, is being questioned on loads of hot topics, including civil rights, LGBT rights, immigration, and abortion. Amid intermittent interruption from protesters—some of whom have donned KKK costumes—the hearings are fraught with big issues.
But what about the all-important—yet often overlooked—issue of food policy? After all, as attorney general, Sessions will have a huge platform upon which to influence the federal food stamp program, officially known as SNAP.
A glimpse back at a 2012 debate on the Senate floor tells us pretty much all we need to know about Session's stance—at least at the time—on this essential topic. When Kirstin Gillibrand, the senator from New York, argued in favor of restoring $4.5 billion in aid programs to feed hungry Americans—programs that a farm bill proposed by Sessions would cut—Sessions lashed out against Gillibrand and SNAP, saying: "It's precisely this kind of thinking that has bled our treasury of money that we need to pay for the demands that this country has. I also think it's a moral issue."
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