Trump wants to end food stamps for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Plaskett warns

Virgin Islands Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett used the opening of the Agriculture and Food Fair in Estate Lower Love on Saturday to issue a stern warning to residents of the territory: President Donald Trump intends to end food stamp assistance for the islands.

The upcoming Congressional budget budget includes $230 billion in proposed cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the course of 10 years, a move that could impact school meal programs, SNAP benefits, and food aid for low-income students and families.

“We here in the Virgin Islands, we don’t just need to tighten our belts,” Plaskett said. “That’s austerity measures that we know we need, but we need to create self-sufficiency, food security, to come up with innovative ways that we will make up that gap for our students and for our elders.”

Plaskett referenced the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a program that enables schools to provide free meals to all students in low-income areas. Recent federal budget proposals aim to limit access to CEP, which could lead to approximately 24,000 schools losing eligibility nationwide. Locally, this could reduce access to school meals for thousands of Virgin Islands students.

Additionally, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits could face drastic cuts, impacting food security for low-income households. While proponents of the budget argue the cuts target waste and inefficiencies, analysts have warned that they could reduce overall benefits and restrict eligibility.