Snaps Pros And Cons

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.

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).

SNAP benefits are limited to 3 months for most healthy, able-bodied adults where a renewal application is required for an extension (Snaptohealth). If the amount of time for people to be on benefits is increased will allow them to focus on other aspects of their life to improve their living or working conditions. Only 3 months of SNAP benefits is not a significant amount of time to allow someone to make significant attempts to get out of poverty. Allowing people to spend more time on this program they can use that time to try and save additional income to put it towards better

I asked my friends whether or not they would be able to take the SNAP challenge, and also what are their thoughts on this problem of people living on such a small budget. On Twitter, the poll was 50/50. Voters voted that some could live on the $6-7 dollars, and then the others said they could not (Anna Kate Campbell 2017). Then on Facebook, 7 out of 9 friends stated that the SNAP challenge can be done. Some of the individuals even stated that they are/or have lived on this budget before. However, two friends brought up the fact that individuals taking the challenge or who live on this budget have to grocery shop intellectually. Many individuals can buy junk food which does not nutritionally feed a family. The other friend also brought up the topic and fear that many individuals can misuse the welfare system (Anna Kate Campbell

Medicaid, WIC Programs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program known as “food stamps”, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and HUD which deals with housing are only a few of the programs that are available for the poor and underemployed today. These government programs cost the taxpayers billions of dollars. State and federal government try every year to reduce programs. In Mississippi, Medicaid has been reduced although children and the disabled are still covered. SNAP commonly known as food stamps have also been reduce and restricted to balance both the state and federal government. At the height of the recession, the last few years, has increased the number of single bread winner families seeking help by applying for government welfare programs. We often hear of people selling their food stamps for things that are not approved. These stories are used by the people who do not think that tax money should be used to support people who do not work. Changing the name of “welfare” to TANF has not slowed the

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.

For instance, there are behavioral or social reasons for nonparticipation. Some individuals who are eligible may not be aware of their eligibility. In 2009, it was estimated half of the households that were eligible did not participate because they either believed they were ineligible or were unsure if they were eligible. This lack of knowledge has encouraged efforts for SNAP outreach in some areas of the country, with partnering organization working with the state and local SNAP offices Additionally, when looking at explanations for nonparticipation, one might think about those individuals who choose not to participate despite being aware of their eligibility. Some households or individuals will never register for SNAP. These “non-compliers” could make this decisions either for personal reasons, a desire for independence, or issues with the administration of food stamps. Research has highlighted that SNAP participation is negatively impacted by long waiting periods at the local offices and other burdensome administrative and implementation issues for the states and participants (Bartlett, Burstein, & Hamilton, 2004; Currie & Grogger, 2001; U.S. General Accounting Office, 2001; Kabbani 2003; Ratcliffe, McKernan & Feingold, 2007; Zedlewski & Radar,

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a government program for low-income individuals and families which allows them to receive nutrition assistance. Previously known as the Federal Food Stamp Program, SNAP was renamed in 2008 to fight stigma of those who participate in the program. The first food stamp program can date back to 1939 and was created by Milo Perkins who was able to see a solution for both farmers who had surpluses of crops and the undernourished population within the town.

Hernandez from August 2012 through July 2013 was conducted. The EBT database shows information about all of the EBT transactions, including the date, time, transaction type, amounts requested and completed, and whether an EBT card is swiped or entered manually. The information in the EBT database is created by Fidelity Information Services (FIS) and maintained by (FIS). An analysis of the EBT benefit transactions confirmed that Ms. Hernandez successfully redeemed monthly SNAP benefits. (See Exhibit # 11)

The federal government pays 100% of SNAP benefits and the program administration costs are split approximately 50% with the states. No one will argue the social importance of food stamps with the program assisting nearly 5 million a year to feed their families. This morale commitment comes with a price and any deficit reduction strategy will require difficult choices. Program elimination is clearly not an option but state empowerment is a strong avenue to pursue. States have a role in the welfare of their citizens and it is time for that responsibility to be resourced. My recommendation is to require the states to pay 25% of the food stamp costs combined with ensuring able-bodied adults are scrutinized. Implementation of this recommendation will create a debt reduction of $220 billion to the federal

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is the United States government largest food assistance program. It provides a protection for low-income people in the United States to meet food and nutrition needs. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers SNAP at the Federal level through its Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The program started in April 1939 and was credited to various people, most notably Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace and the program's first Administrator Milo Perkins. Its mission is “to provide food assistance and nutrition education to assist participants as they move to a healthier lifestyle and self-sufficiency” [

The SNAP program is based on the gross income a family makes and does not take into account the expenses that the family has such as school loans, car payments, and even household items such as diapers. Due to this system, many people who are working and making an effort to improve their lives are unable to make progress because this type of

SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, has been in existence since May 16, 1939. The original food stamp program allowed consumers to purchase food stamps, essentially giving them $1.50 for every dollar they spent on food. It was meant to get farm surpluses to urban areas where people were undernourished (USDA). SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, is designed to reduce food insecurity, which can be described as reduced food intake, disrupted eating patterns due to lack of money or

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

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