Senators have the chance this week to make a real difference at kitchen tables across Maine.

They will be taking up the Farm Bill, one important part of which reauthorizes (meaning they renew and make changes in) the food stamp and emergency feeding programs. Making the Farm Bill's nutrition programs as strong as possible matters for Maine.

In Maine, 67,000 households face a constant struggle against hunger. For many of them, food stamps are a lifeline. More than 160,000 Mainers rely on food stamps to help them place food on the table.

Sometimes we take for granted the general good health and nutrition of our nation's children, and forget that it is nutrition programs -- such as food stamps -- that make a huge difference for millions of them, as well as many seniors, people with disabilities, working parents, and others.

Food stamps help households stretch their limited dollars. Moreover, these federal food stamp dollars help Maine's economy. It is estimated that each federal food stamp dollar generates nearly double that in local economic activity. And they move families closer to what's called "food security" -- the government's term for, essentially, being financially secure enough to know where your next meal is coming from.

The Food Stamp Program has brought the nation a long way, but Congress must strengthen it so we can truly move toward ending hunger.

As costs for energy, housing, transportation and food continue to rise, households find themselves increasingly strapped. Millions have difficulty affording a healthy and adequate diet.

While the benefits make a difference for struggling families, they still remain startlingly low -- below what the government itself says is necessary for a minimally healthy diet. Currently, average food stamp benefits are just $1 per person per meal, and the minimum benefit has been stuck at a mere $10 since 1977.

Another problem is antiquated eligibility rules. The $2,000 limit on assets that most households can have and still qualify for food stamp assistance has not been changed in two decades. For many beneficiaries, inflation has reduced benefits.

Our nation can do better.

Congress has the chance to make a difference for these families. The nutrition title -- the part of the farm bill that contains food assistance programs -- passed by the House in July and the one that cleared the Senate Agriculture Committee in late October each would make a start at improving Food Stamp Program benefit levels, including the minimum benefit and asset rules, as well as bolster The Emergency Food Assistance Program that helps stock food bank and food pantry shelves.

Consideration in the whole Senate is scheduled to begin Monday.

It is urgent that Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe do all they can to further strengthen the nutrition title provisions.

Anti-hunger groups across the country see continued need in their communities. In Maine, the recent editorial series on hunger, "For I was Hungry," by this newspaper chronicled the rise in hunger across the state.

Americans care deeply about eliminating hunger in this country, but believe that not enough is being done in that regard.

To that end, they want greater government efforts in the fight against hunger through programs that work. A recent poll conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates found that a majority of voters believe it is important to increase benefits and raise the minimum benefit level -- 57 percent say that the government is spending too little to make sure that low-income people are getting the food and nutrition they need.

Congress has the chance this month to increase investments in our federal nutrition programs in smart and targeted ways.

As the bill heads to the Senate floor, we urge Snowe and Collins to provide leadership to make new investments that strengthen the nutrition title further.

A good 2007 Farm Bill substantially bolsters the Food Stamp Program to renew the nation's effort to end hunger and improve the nutrition, health and learning of all our people, and especially working families with children and the elderly.

That will help Maine, and help the nation.

Jim Weill is president of the Food Research and Action Center, based in Washington, D.C., www.frac.org.