Food Stamps Research Paper

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers food assistance programs that help provide food for low to no income families. It is their goal to increase food security and reduce hunger by increasing access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education for low-income Americans (Caswell, 2013, para. 1). Some of the current nutrition assistance programs include “the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)”(Caswell, 2013, para. 1). SNAP will be the primary nutrition assistance program of the paper at hand. No matter how morally good it is to try to help reduce hunger and increase food security within the United States, there are still many questions regarding issues with SNAP. This paper will be discussing why there is such a strong support for the program, how it helps the United States as a whole, problems with the program, and why some people are against SNAP.

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.

SNAP is the foundation of nutrition assistance programs. This program provides over 47 million individuals in nearly 23 million low-income households. The eligibility is not restricted to certain groups of individuals, and because of this, SNAP serves a vast amount of families with children, elderly people, and individuals with disabilities. Others eligible for SNAP include families with adults who work in low-wage jobs, unemployed workers, and those with a fixed income. The SNAP Program assists about 72 percent of people who live in households with children. Nearly 25 percent of households with seniors and individuals with disabilities, are also assisted (Rosenbaum, 2013).

People who can cook and work need to buy all the ingredients, but in reality, it is hard to make time to shop before work or after work. People who have food stamps are low income people who needs to work for hours to support their family. When people who work need to shop, they need to think about open and close time for the grocery store, shopping time, traffic and finding parking space, waiting line to buy, and also time for going back to their house to drop off all the food and going to work if they are planning to shop before their shift. For example, When you go to the Costco or Walmart, there are long lines to purchase and countless cars in the parking lot. Costco is always busy with people that

Tom Vilsack once said “The lack of access to proper nutrition is not only fueling obesity, it is leading to food insecurity and hunger among our children”. In recent years an unruly amount of homes were classified as food insecure, which is a government measurement for when all people are not able to access nutritious foods to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Hunger is a worldwide problem and is also a crisis in the United States of America. Because of this concern the federal government configured a temporary solution for society, called Food Stamps or now known as SNAPS. SNAPS stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Although this program helps to alleviate America’s hunger problems, it also created a new problem in the

He signed an Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) that created the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation. This program bought basic commodities and distributed them to relief agencies. In 1939, Henry Wallace created the Food Stamp Plan. May, 1939, Mabel McFiggin, an unemployed factory worker was the first to collect stamps to buy surplus foods in Rochester, N.Y. During the Depression, many found need of assistance. That was the first preliminary program to help the needy started by President Roosevelt. “Food stamps originally came in two colors: recipients bought orange stamps, which could be used for any kind of food, and they were given half that amount in free blue stamps, which could be used to buy designated surplus foods (all but the most destitute had to make some payment to receive food stamps until 1977)(James, 2009).” This type of food stamps helped about 20 million people until 1943.

The food stamp program is lacking to provide stability for the poverty stricken people of America. The first ever food stamp program was established during the Great Depression. At this time, prices were down on everything, including

A majority of the time the people that are using the food stamps unjustly do not get punished, the stores they shop at do. Food prices may be high, but some people are getting more discounts than they should. Many people obtain food stamps from other people that are eligible for them and use more than they require to get free food. Food stamps were originally made for people that have jobs but cannot meet ends meet with the added load of food for their families. Now food stamps are used by people on welfare with all the newest electronics who do not want to pay for their food so they can save their unearned money for the latest and greatest version of their favorite video

When you are standing in the checkout line at your local grocery store do you ever think about how the person in front of you is paying for their groceries? Most citizens do not take a second thought at other peoples payment methods if it means they can get out of the store swiftly as possible. In the United States on average about 21.3 percent of Americans receive welfare assistance that is approximately 52.2 million people. Welfare assistance is a program that provides money through a variety of programs consisting of: food stamps, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Americans suffer income complications everyday trying to make it by, but looking

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.

They also offer other programs such as Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). This program provides meals and snack to low-income families with children in daycare. It also provides food to adults in nonresidential adult care center. Food and Nutrition Service also has a School Breakfast Program, a School Lunch Program and a Summer Food Service Program. The school Breakfast Program and the School Lunch Program insures that children in lower income families receives a nutritious breakfast and lunch while at school. The Summer Food Service Program continues to provide nutritious meals while the children are out of school during their summer break. (USDA

The Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Assembly passed a bill on Wednesday, May 13th to require food stamp recipients to use their food stamps only for healthy foods. The bill now travels to the Republican-controlled State Senate, where its future is unknown. In the previous legislative session, the State Senate refused to take up a similar bill. If the bill passes the State Senate, the state would need a waiver from the federal government to proceed with the program change. Other states, such as Missouri and Kansas, tried to pass similar legislation but were not granted the waiver from the federal government.

The debate over whether or not citizens on food stamps should be able to buy junk food using food stamps has been a popular, or unpopular, discussion topic that remains through the test of time. Food stamps for some people are simply a means to an end for some, that fact is undeniable. The food stamps program itself cost a substantial amount of money just to keep it running. Many people abuse the program to get what they want instead of what they need, this is why buying junk food with food stamps is a cause of obesity. The buying of junk food through the food stamp program is an unnecessary expense and should not be allowed.

Food Stamps originated in 1964 and they are vouchers issued by the government to those on low income. These are exchangeable for food. This program is officially named Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and it provides food vouchers to 47.6 million people or 23 million households. These people receive an average of $133 USD a month from these vouchers. There's another food stamp program specifically for nursing mothers and young children. The Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children provides vouchers, education, and referrals to help feed pregnant women and children up to age six. In 2017 about 7.7 million people received WIC each month. Of those, more than 75 percent were children or infants. The Child Nutrition Program provides free or reduced-cost lunches to 30 million children. These acts of aid support humans so they can achieve basic human needs for themselves and their families. It is the government's obligations to help their people. Another proactive Welfare Program in the US is The Housing Choice Voucher

The changes in the SNAP Program that would restrict certain purchases of foods and become more like the WIC Program would affect 45,766,672 individuals. As of now, SNAP participants are able to purchase multiple food items even if they do not have any nutritional benefit. The goal is to increase protein, fruit, vegetables and grain consumption among SNAP participants. When people are low income they tend to buy goods that are cheaper in nutrients. “SNAP participants were least likely to consume any fruits or vegetables compared to those not participating in the program, regardless of cooking frequency.” (Bleich and Wolfson 2015). Increasing protein, fruits, vegetables and grains will have a positive effect on the health of our SNAP participants.