Food Stamps: Pros And Cons

The modern program was established as part of the War on Poverty in the 1960s but has undergone mass changed since then (Edin, 2014). One being that the government gives out electronic debit cards, rather than stamps, for buying food. Since 2008, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program has become the largest food assistance program in the U.S. It serves greater than 45 million people in the U.S and is a critical safety net program for health and nutrition in the U.S (The History of SNAP, para.

Food Stamp is a government-funded program in the United States. This is a program that helps people buy food for their families; in other words, it is a very important program to families living in poverty. It is the nation’s most important program in the fight against hunger. This program was developed in the 1960’s; it is made to improve the nutrition level and food purchasing power of people with low-income. This program is offered to people who cannot afford to buy groceries for their families, regardless of age, color, sex or religion. Food Stamps can only be used to buy food items not hygiene or household items, and it’s offered only on a monthly basis.

My family and I did well on food stamps because we went grocery shopping prior to this assignment, and we generally keep our groceries stocked. We are a family of three who had an allotted amount of $511 for the month, which was a total of $18.25 per day, and we were on food stamps for six days. We spent approximately $50 within those days on mostly unnecessary items because of not being prepared for dinner. However, had we not went grocery shopping and did not have many groceries on hand, this assignment would have been extremely challenging.

For those convicted who want a chance to succeed in the outside world, allowing access to food stamps could be the difference between a second chance at life or a second sentence in jail.

Poverty is an issue that can affect anyone. One of the biggest struggles for those living in povery is obtaining and affording food. Thankfully the United States has a food assistance program for people who are living in poverty. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formally known as Food Stamps is a monthly budget specifically for food. While it has not eliminated hunger in the United States, it is a step forward and is also a prevention to hunger in poverty stricken families.

Food stamp benefits do not have a great social standing. “Because of previous abuse of the system such as selling food stamps to buy cigarettes, there is a social stigma with receiving funds.” (Marie Thibodeaux, Wanda.) People feel that persons on food stamps are lazy and don’t want to work. They take advantage of the free money that is given to them

Every day we all make different decisions on what we eat and drink; furthermore, eating healthy is a personal choice. Soda is refreshing and even though we know that it is not the finest option we drink it anyway.Food stamps help to improved levels of nutrition among low-income households.Since soda does not provide adequate nutrients, it should be definitely banned from food stamps.

With food stamps “families are less likely to make tradeoffs between paying for health care and paying for other basic needs” (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities). Before Food Stamps, families of low income were struggling to choose between paying groceries to paying medical bills, now with the help of food stamps, families of low income have access to healthy nutritious food and won't worry about buying food and move their focus on other basic needs. For families of low income, study shows that “SNAP, reduced the poverty rate by nearly 8 percent in 2009” (Tavernise). Also further studies show that “SNAP lifted 4.7 million households out of poverty in 2011.”(ThinkProgress), this was important data made by the U.S. Census Bureau. This shows that food stamps are important to have because families depend on it to

Although the recipient is being provided groceries this does not mean the value of the food is beneficial. Food stamps is not a health-giving program. If someone is not eating the proper diet the individual will be more sluggish making the daily routine less productive. Studies show food has a big impact on the brain and the way the human brain thinks. (Conners) Researchers from MIT, Princeton, Tufts University and many others have proven eating “brain foods” help replace loss brain cells making memory become more functional.

The Supplementation Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), prior to October 2008 referred to as Food Stamps, was legislatively established nationwide in 1974 by the United States Congress. However, the Food Stamp Act of 1977 established comprehensive reform of the federally supported entitlement program setting the structure of the program today (Food Stamp Act of 1977). SNAP provides in-kind monthly benefits to provide nutrition assistance to low income families and individuals. With over 22 million households in the United States being served by the program in 2014, SNAP continues to be the nation’s largest domestic nutritional assistance program (Hoynes & Schanzenbach, 2015). As a federally supported entitlement program, federal

The opportunities range from taxation of sugar-based drinks to educating people only healthy foods. A few of the options are the following examples. At present, benefits are distributed once a month. One of the programs that are being discussed are the possibility of dividing up the SNAP benefit payment to twice a month, As quoted by Bhargava (2004) and Shapiro (2005) "To break the food stamp cycle some researcher propose distributing SNAP benefits more often than the monthly schedule" (as quoted by Richards, Sindelar, 2013). One hope for the indicated would be too encouraging increased fruits and vegetables to be purchased to produce a healthier eating pattern during the entire month. Hence, the curbing of high-calorie foods are thought to generate obesity. The option also comes with problems. Some participants have no genuine incentive to improve their eating practices, and in-store purchases and personal influence remain (Richards, Sindelar, 2013). Some participants feel they need to be rewarded for buying healthy, fresh foods with their snap benefits. An option that would provide an incentive for every purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables a reimbursement of SNAP cash will be added to the benefit card. The benefit will be added on toward the end of the month. Giving people the opportunity to buy additional groceries. Even with this option when the added benefits are placed on the SNAP the recipients can then proceed to purchase the sugar-based drinks of their choice. This program would not eliminate the purchasing of sugar-based

If a store is committing food stamps fraud, it requires the help of food stamps recipients, but you seldom see them prosecuted. 80% of the financial help available goes to those “few bad apples.” That does not sound like a good taxpayer investment to me. It seems to me the lion share of the money should be spent on the temporarily poor, the poor by circumstances, more than choice. Recently in Georgia there was a terrible case of food stamp fraud. Please remember that the state has given these benefits. These people qualify, however they abuse the system. They have also persuaded these government workers with their false applications. These are what I call “hood-rich” people. They try to get all they can out of the government. Some of these people do not want better for themselves. I know so many people that live in public housing with nice cars, expensive jewelry, designer clothing, and nice non important assets. Most of them do not work and those that do barely do that. Most of them have two or more kids. How can they afford this lifestyle? I work have to work two jobs just to maintain. I have to live at home with my mom because renting is very expensive. Thank God I am continuing my education so I can have a better life for myself. Life is expensive without any children and I am not able to get help. The basically telling that I have to push out a few kids and

It’s important to realize The SNAP program which actually uses debit cards, provides modest but crucial aid to families in need. SNAP recipients are ripping off the government for millions of dollars by illegally selling their benefit cards for cash sometimes even in the open, on eBay or Craigslist and then asking the government for replacement cards. In addition, several studies have found a correlation between SNAP participation and increased body mass among adult women. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2008 review of available research found that while use of food stamps didn't increase obesity among children, adult men, or the elderly, studies show adult women are 2 to 5 percent more likely to become obese if they receive food stamps for more than a year (Huffington Post)”.

In the following paper, the topic of food stamps or the official name Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which is defined on the government website as “SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP is the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net”.(2017) The argument in the paper is the fighting for or against the continuation of SNAP within the United States of America. Some main points that will be covered in this essay are if SNAP should be continued, should or should not there be an increase in the amount of money given to people on welfare and food stamps, and should the government drug test people that want food stamps.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, was introduced in 1939 to alleviate poverty and hunger in the United States. The main purpose of the program is to help people with low-income to afford nutritious diet by elevating their purchasing power (Cuunyngham et al., 2006). In 1943, when the economic situation stabilized the subsidies were stopped. However, the Senate kept on discussing the possibilities of their reintroduction. The government faced difficulties while deciding who should benefit from this help. Eventually, in 1961 FSP was launched again and soon became one of the leading social welfare programs. In 1965, the number of beneficiaries reached half a million (Cunnyngham & Castner, 2009). By 1971 this number increased to 10 million and when this figure jumped to 15 million in October 1974, SNAP became the most fast-growing nation-wide food program. In the late 90s of the XXth century, paper coupons were driven away by the debit cards that circulated in a special system EBT, and therefore in 2008 the name of the program disappeared together with coupons. Finally, in 2011 about one in seven Americans was served by SNAP.