By Rebekah Martin
Associate Editor
Jimmy Wright, owner of Wright’s Market, testified before the U.S. House Agriculture Committee last week on behalf of the National Grocers Association. Wright, who has served on the NGA board of directors since 2012, presented his testimony on the effectiveness of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP.)
According to its website, SNAP, originally known as the Food Stamp Program, “is the largest nutrition assistance program administered by the USDA, serving more than 46 million low-income Americans per year, at a cost of more than $75 billion. The goals of SNAP are to improve participants’ food security and their access to a healthy diet.” Wright’s presentation to the committee was entitled “The Past, Present, and Future of SNAP: The Retailer Perspective.”
Wright purchased the grocery store in 1997, and now employs 32 people. Wright told the committee he believes the SNAP to be an important program that helps families in need. “The SNAP program, in my opinion, is one of the most important and efficient programs our nation offers. In our own business, it creates jobs. In our community, it helps those who are in need,” Wright said in his written testimony. “I believe that, overall, the program serves a great purpose for families, especially children and the elderly who are in need.”
Wright said he is proud to have been chosen to be a part of the process. “With all of the challenges that we have, and the disagreements we have in Washington and in our government … there is still a process where an average, ordinary American citizen can go and sit before the leaders of the country and kind of share thoughts and what’s on their heart,” Wright said. “[It was] certainly a fascinating process, to say the least.”