Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have voted to slash funding for food stamps: a programme that feeds nearly 45 million Americans on low incomes every month. Why? So that they didn't have to cut military spending.

America's defence budget accounts for 41% of the entire world’s military spending – that's five times greater than China’s defence budget, 10 times greater than Russia’s, and 95 times greater than Iran’s.

This latest move would kick two million people out of the food stamps programme entirely and cut back benefits for 44 million more – all in the name of adding $36bn to the already enormous defence budget.

If this is all reminds you of a certain Hollywood blockbuster, in which poor people have to fight against brutal odds in order to survive a cruel game, you're not alone.

Half in Ten, a project working to cut poverty in the US, shows us just what the real "Hunger Games" are all about:

Thursday’s vote was split on party lines, with Republicans largely voting for the measure, while Democrats rallied against it – arguing that it was better to take away tax breaks from the rich, rather than take food off the tables of millions of disadvantaged Americans. The plan goes next to the Democrat-controlled Senate.

Take action: It's not too late to stop this cruel bill. If you live in the US, urge your representative to fund food stamps, not wars.