Food Stamps to SNAP Essay

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 stamps are an important component of low-income families’ monthly resources, increasing the chances that families are able to meet basic needs (Ratcliffe, McKernan & Finegold, 2008). This form of food relief dates back to the Great Depression when many Americans lost their jobs and did not have money to feed their families. People were starving while farmers produced abundant crop that could not be sold due to a lack of consumers with buying power (Dorsch, 2013). The Federal Surplus Relief Corporation which was a part of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, bought basic farm goods at low prices and distributed the among hunger relief agencies in different states and local communities (Congressional Digest, 2013).

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).

Time to go to the grocery store with only $29.00 worth of food stamps for the

In the United States of America, there is enough food in this country that the total amount of agricultural exports is enough to feed everyone twice over (Dorsch, 2013). The problem is that even though there is so much food in this country millions of people require assistance to purchase the food and feed their families. Dating back almost 100 years, the now called Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) has evolved to keep up with the changing needs of the Country. In 1933 SNAP was built into Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The AAA was put into law during the great depression. The purpose of the law was to help farmers deal with the excess supply of crops by having the government subsidize the cost. The government would also distribute these crops to relief agencies and local communities (The History of SNAP). In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Food Stamp Act. With this legislation enacted it was now required to purchase stamps. These stamps also had bonus amounts that were determined by income level. In the 90’s and early 2000s major changes were done to SNAP. The electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card was

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

Throughout my research, I have gathered a lot of useful information about food stamps, also known as Common Benefit Identification Card (CBIC) (New). Food stamps are a valuable resource for many lower class families and less fortunate individuals. It is the nation's highest anti-hunger program and helps many people. According to fns.usda.gov, “Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is an electronic system that allows a recipient to authorize transfer of their government benefits from a Federal account to a retailer account to pay for products received. EBT is used in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. EBT has been implemented in all States since June of

As the US national debt nears $20 trillion, government programs are being looked to be cut, one of those being the SNAP program. SNAP is a federal program which offers nutrition assistance to low income families, by use of food-stamps, while also providing economic benefits to communities (“Supplemental”). SNAP is the largest program in domestic hunger safety (“Supplemental”), the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) works with nutrition educators, faith based organizations, and neighborhood organizations to help those eligible for the SNAP program make informed decisions about applying (“Supplemental”). The FNS also works with the retail community and State partners to improve the program’s integrity and administration (“Supplemental”). The SNAP

My mother received SNAP benefits for three months while she was unemployed in 2013, but only received $17 a month for a family of three. The most one can receive in SNAP benefits for a family of three is $497. Now that she has a stable job and can afford groceries without the help of government aid, there is no way she ever spends $497 on food. The people who receive the entire amount allotted for their family size should not receive that much. This is more than enough money for a family of three to eat very well every single day, while there are some people in the lower middle class that cannot afford to have three meals a day. My father, for example, went through a time where he made too much money to receive any type of food stamps from the government, but he could not afford to have three meals a day. When he applied for SNAP benefits, he was denied due to the fact that he made around $1,300 per month, which is not very much because he had to pay for rent, a car payment, car insurance, and the utility bills. It was difficult for him to find enough food to make dinner for two people, if I was there over the weekend. The maximum one can make in monthly gross income for a household of one person is $1,245 to be eligible for SNAP benefits (Saddler, dhs.state.il.us). In Figure 1, there is a chart stating the amount of money a household is expected to receive in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.

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.

Money is money but if you’re living in an apartment and rent costs you $400.00 a month, you aren’t going to have enough money. If you get food stamps then you’re getting free money from the state for food. Most people get food stamps because they don’t have a job. You can only get food stamps up to the day you get a job that pays you just enough money to pay for rent and food. “The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the nation's most important anti-hunger program.” In order to get food stamps you have to meet the standards. “Households have to meet income tests unless all members are receiving TANF, SSI, or in some places general assistance. Most households must meet both the gross and net income tests, but a household with an elderly person or a person who is receiving certain types of disability payments only has to meet the net income test. Households, except those noted, that have income over the amounts listed below cannot get SNAP

Along with cash assistance programs, there are many programs that offer food and medical assistance. Emergency food programs help supplement the diets of low-income needy people by providing food at no cost. Foods banks and churches, both offer emergency food when a family or individual is in need. SNAP which was formerly known as food stamps is a food benefit program that offers low-income people and families help to buy the food needed to maintain a healthy diet and retain good health. The benefits are provided on a link card that is accepted at most grocery stores. There are limits as to what can be purchased with SNAP benefits, such as; cigarettes and any other tobacco products, alcohol, gasoline, and any hot, already prepared foods. Along with food, you are able to also purchase vegetable and fruit seeds to be able to grow your own foods in a garden (DHS Programs). Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC is a food assistance program for women infants and children. The program helps pregnant women, new mothers and young children eat well and stay healthy. Special checks are used to buy, foods like; milk juice, eggs, cheese, cereal, beans, bread, peanut butter, and formula and baby food for infants and babies. Most states also have a medical program and is usually called Medicaid. The Medicaid program is for qualifying low-income individuals and families. For adults the Medicaid program covers doctor visits, emergency room services and hospital services, dental and vision

Skepticism of people’s true need ties into the support of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formally known as Food Stamps. By the 1990’s conservatives and some liberals argued that the Johnson-era reforms had created a culture of dependency on government aid. In 1996 Congress overhauled the welfare system by imposing work requirements and putting time limits on cash payments to the needy. This act caused the SNAP rolls to drop, but the economic crisis that began in 2007 pushed the national unemployment rate above 9 percent. With unemployment at an all-time high this forced millions of families to seek government aid. In response to this new need the SNAP program was expanded as part of the stimulus package in 2009. This expansion was intended to be a temporary fix with cuts to the program to being in 2013. The thought

Unfortunately, in regards to the quantity of programs aiming towards families who need extra assistance the number is rather low. Yes, they’re at least one food bank in each area of Louisiana but what about those with no means of transportation. In fact, in 2013 Snap benefits were cut. For every family of 3 they will now be $29 short totally to $319 from each family altogether. CBPP.com agreed that, “ These cuts will likely cause hardship for some SNAP participants, who will include 22 million children in 2014 (10 million of whom live in “deep poverty,” with family incomes below half of the poverty line) and 9 million people who are elderly or have a serious disability.” Not only is this a bad idea but it is also rather selfish to take from those who need to feed their families.

assistance to low income individuals and families. An estimate of 1.8 million New Yorkers and a total of 46.3 million Americans participate in the SNAP program. Despite the large number of individuals on food stamp the Census Bureau reports in 2010 3.9 million people were lifted above the poverty line and 5 million in 2012 all because of the assistance from SNAP. However the federal government has threaten to cut back on the budget for SNAP. In January 2014 the Farm bill was proposed which included an 8.7 million cut to the SNAP program for the next 10 years. Obama later signed the bill into law on February 7, 2014 saying that the Bill would help create more jobs, move the economy forward and give Americans more equal opportunity (Resnikoff 1). Despite the government’s reasons for the budget cut 850 thousand households would be losing an average of 90 dollars per month (Resnikoff 1). This is unfortunate because reports have shown that SNAP is not only an effective federal program but it also has a positive outcome for individuals. Even in the previous statistics, going from 3.9 million to 5 million people lifted above the poverty line in only a two year difference is a significant breakthrough for low income individuals. It is often easy to find yourself falling under the poverty line, but harder to pick yourself back up. Many individuals who are against the program believe that being on food stamps makes an individual more government dependent and takes away the drive for