While Democrats and advocacy groups like the American Heart Association and Friends of the Earth focused heavily on the Farm Bill’s impact on hunger and nutrition, Republican members largely emphasized farming, trade and rural development.
What’s in the bill: Nutrition programs
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the 2026 Farm Bill keeps all federal nutrition programs, including SNAP, in place, extending food and nutrition programs through FY2031.
The legislation is budget‑neutral, where no additional spending will go towards nutrition programs.
Several SNAP expansions considered in 2024 were omitted due to cost and lack of bipartisan support.
Some programs will continue – including The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) which subsidizes produce for SNAP recipients – but without the increased funding Democrats had proposed.
While the structure of nutrition programs is preserved, critics argue the bill fails to restore cuts or expand access, leaving millions of Americans vulnerable to hunger.
Democrats highlight hunger and health concerns
Rep. Shontel Brown (D‑Oh.) raised the tragic links between hunger and health.
“Kids who are hungry don’t learn … you can’t be healthy if you’re hungry. But this Farm Bill, instead of addressing our hunger crisis in this country … makes the crisis worse,” she said.
Brown also criticized past cuts under “The Big Beautiful Bill” or HR 1 which reduced funding for SNAP and related programs. She noted that veterans, seniors and families have already lost access to food assistance, citing the government shutdown from October 1 to November 12, 2025 which paused federal nutrition assistance nationwide.
Brown also raised concerns about bill’s exclusion of small producers and specialty crop farmers.
“This bill leaves small producers, specialty crop farmers, families and tribal communities behind. It shifts costs onto charitable food networks…undercuts conservation programs … and short changes research institutions and land grants," she said.
Environmental advocacy organization Friends of the Earth echoed these concerns, warning the bill favors large agribusiness and chemical companies at the expense of public health.
“Rather than address the economic crises facing America’s family farmers, this Farm Bill is a thinly veiled gift bag for Big Ag and pesticide manufacturers … Congress should invest in helping farmers transition to organic and regenerative agriculture,” the organization wrote in a statement.
The American Heart Association praised certain provisions of the bill “such as eliminating the match requirement for high-poverty areas in GusNIP and granting permanent authority for the SNAP online pilot, which would expand access to healthy foods nationwide.”
Simultaneously, AHA called on lawmakers to restore SNAP and SNAP-Ed (which provides nutrition education for SNAP recipients), emphasizing that millions rely on these programs for access to nutritious foods.
The bill is a failure to support programs “vital to our nation’s food and nutrition security,” wrote CSPI Deputy Director Joelle Johnson in a statement last month.
Johnson noted the bill “does nothing to address the impending SNAP funding crisis” caused by cost shifts to states and “does not increase funding for the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program, thus failing to increase families’ purchasing power for fruits and vegetables”.
Republicans emphasize farm support and rural investment
On the other side of the bill, Rep. Mike Bost (R‑Ill.) emphasized the bill’s benefits for farmers and rural communities, including expanded funding for trade programs, easier access for new farmers, strengthened research at land‑grant universities, and locally led conservation initiatives - all designed to avoid “unnecessary regulations”.
Rep. Tracey Mann (R‑Ks.) framed the bill as a step toward long-term stability, noting it expands access to credit, boosts rural development, reduces energy costs, supports broadband expansion and invests in water infrastructure. He added that the legislation also strengthens national security and helps ensure the next generation of farmers can “continue to feed, fuel, and clothe the world”.
Can the Farm Bill reach bipartisan solutions?
While Republicans stress farm support, trade access, and rural investment, Democrats emphasize nutrition security and public health, highlighting the tension that could shape the final bill.
Rep. Mann cited programs like Food for Peace, which provides US food aid to vulnerable populations abroad, and McGovern-Dole, which delivers school meals and nutrition to children in low-income countries while supporting US farmers, as part of the bill’s focus on global and domestic food priorities.
Across party lines, stakeholders agreed on the importance of maintaining both farm stability and food security, even as disagreements remain over spending, program expansions, and environmental provisions.
