What if there were a vaccine against the harmful effects of hunger? According to researchers at Children’s HealthWatch, there is. But these vaccines aren’t shots or sprays. They’re food stamps.

Unlike other vaccines, these certainly aren’t a high priority for many lawmakers. In September, the House of Representatives voted for $40 billion in cuts over ten years to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Regardless, on November 1, the 13 percent increase to SNAP benefits from the 2009 stimulus expires. This means a family of three will have $29 less per month — and live on only $1.40 per person per meal.

This is dangerous. Like a vaccine, food stamps protect young children against immediate and future disease. “The right immunizations in the right doses at the right time save untold health and education dollars, not to mention personal anguish and pain,” Children’s HealthWatch wrote in their 2012 report, The SNAP Vaccine. “Hunger and food insecurity in the U.S. also endanger the bodies and brains of millions of children.”

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This post first appeared on the Public Library of Science’s Public Health blog.