Members of the House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps) by a whopping $40 billion. This move would cut millions of children and families from the program and reduce benefits for even more.

At a time of high unemployment, hunger, and poverty this seems like an outrageous move for Congress to make. Here are the Top 5 reasons we think the House Farm Bill stinks and are doing everything we can to stop it in its tracks:

1. 14.5% of U.S. households are food insecure- Earlier this month the USDA released a report showing that 17.6 million households struggled to put food on the table in 2012. A massive cut to SNAP would only force these families to struggle more.

2. Children will suffer greatly from these cuts- Rampant unemployment and the proliferation of low-wage jobs have resulted in one out of two American children spending at least a few months during childhood on food stamps. Food stamps is one of the prime ways low-income children receives nutrition- boosting their health, productivity, and future. This bill does not just affect food stamps: 210,000 students would lose access to school breakfast and lunch as well.

3. Parents are skipping meals and stressing about finances. This bill will only increase that stress- When food runs short, parents frequently skip meals so children have enough to eat. Hungry, stressed and feeling guilty, parents’ suffering hurts their children as well. A $40 billion cut to SNAP would lead to 15 billion lost meals for low-income families, causing parents to make the difficult decision of choosing between food and other necessities like medicine and child care.

4. Women are disproportionally affected by this cut- SNAP cuts are particularly brutal to women. Because they tend to earn less and be the primary caregivers to children, 60 percent of working-age adult SNAP recipients are women. In addition, 67 percent of elderly SNAP recipients are women.

5. Members of our military are being harmed- At least 900,000 struggling veterans and low-paid enlisted active duty military families receive SNAP each month. More than $98 million in SNAP benefits were redeemed at military commissaries in 2012. Proposed work requirements would be particularly hard on veterans living in areas of high unemployment.

We would love to hear about your personal story with SNAP, your struggles to put food on the table, or why you think this important program should be defended. Your personal stories help make a difference in this vital debate.