Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Analysis

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).

Jane has two young children, William age four and Sally age two, who will need nutritious food to help with their physical and mental development. One of the food assistance programs is called SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Each month the participants receive money on debit card that can be used in most grocery stores. The debit card can usually not be used for items other than food. Another food assistance program is WIC (Women, Infants and Children). This program provides food assistance for pregnant women and children under the age of five. Either of these programs would allow for Jane to purchase the food that her family

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).

They advocate for the 8 million+ mothers and young children served by WIC and the 12,000 WIC agencies who facilitate WIC’s public health nutrition services for all the at-risk poverty stricken mothers and young children. Their mission statement, similar to WIC’s, is “to inspire and empower the WIC community to advocate for and promote quality nutrition services for all eligible mothers and young children and assure effective management of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children

For each of these three recommended actions to be implemented into policy, several things need to occur. For the SNAP policy update and increase in funding recommendation, a general consensus among the United States Department of Agriculture needs to be on board that this is a necessary action. The USDA regulates the SNAP program, so they are the primary agency that would update the policies to further enhance eligible food items and restrict purchasing of unhealthy food. They have the resources of dieticians and medical doctors that understand nutrition, and can differentiate between what healthy and unhealthy food products are. They already have restrictions based on eligible food items, but they do not have any restrictions based on the

The Hunger-free kids act is a nutrition program that provides all children with healthy food in school and to low income families. Because of this act schools are playing a larger role in children’s health. Included in this legislation other programs that focus on hunger has come into play such as: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Woman, Infants and Children (WIC), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Summer Food Service Program, After School Meal Program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed). The programs under the Hunger-free kids act do not have a specific expiration date however,

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) policy of 1975 establishes various programs to address the issue of malnutrition in Women, Infants, and Children (Khanani, Elam, Hearn, Camille, and Noble, 2010). In an attempt to tackle the problem, the bill established a program to supply foodstuffs to breastfeeding mothers, children under the age of five and food formulae for infants that for medical reasons may not be breastfed (Davis et al., 2014). The program also provides breast pumps and ensures prolonged eligibility for families living below the US poverty line families enjoying other benefits devised for the financially challenged. Two social welfare policies evident in this program include redistribution and social control since the

In the United States, there is a substantial number of children that live below the federal poverty line and even more that live below twice the poverty line (Jackson, 2014). According to Jackson (2014), poverty and food insecurity are undeniably related and these children living below the federal poverty line are at risk for varying negative effects, such as delayed cognitive development and medical problems, that hunger can cause. There is a variety of nutritional policies that help these children as well as adults who live in economically disadvantaged and food-insecure households such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) (Jackson, 2014; Marx, Broussard, Hopper, & Worster, 2010). This program

Formerly known as the Food Stamp Program (FSP), The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal nutrition-assistance program and exists to protect low-income Americans from hunger and its associated consequences by increasing access to food. Approximately 44 million people received SNAP benefits this year as of August of 2016.1 Due to the fact that low-income Americans tend to have problems with obesity and poor diet2,3, it would make sense that there would be interest to endorse healthy choices by means of federally nutrition assistance programs.4 However, there is insufficient evidence to require SNAP participants to spend a certain percentage of their benefits on healthy foods because food stamp participation may not contribute to poor diet quality, restrictions may not be effective in changing what food stamp participants purchase, and there is no solid evidence that exists that Food Stamp Program participation directly leads to obesity.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one of the largest federal expenditures in North Carolina. The North Carolina General Assembly has charged the State Auditor with including but not limited to independently examining: operating and administrative procedures and practices; whether programs and activities are expending funds in a faithful, efficient, and economical manner in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; whether activities or programs are effectively serving their intent and purpose (Chapter 147 Article 5A). Therefore, the North Carolina State Auditor is requesting SNAP data in order to perform data analytics to identify unusual activity.

1. Migrant and seasonal farm workers may have the poorest health of any aggregate in the United States and the least access to affordable healthcare (Nies, 2011). In Indiana, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance to low and no income people and families living in the United States (U.S.). It is a federal aid program administered by the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), however, distribution of benefits occurs at the state level. In Indiana, the Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) is responsible for ensuring federal regulations are initially implemented and consistently applied in each county. People can apply for this assistance at their local Division of Family Resources. There are also many places that participate in the emergency food assistance program (TEFAP) and food pantries. In Lake County, Indiana, the largest food pantry is the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, which is a TEFAP participant and also a soup kitchen. They are open Monday through Friday during the day. There are also food pantries in trustee offices and churches, but some of them are by referral only. In some cases, the community health nurse can make a referral (in.gov, 2014).

Having prepared workshops for individuals to implement strategies for all factors that will hinder a person to learn jobs skills needed for the workforce such as; job search strategies, interview preparation, and customer service and other employability skills, along with financial literacy training (Community Action Center, 2016). Other activities such as trainings that teach individuals how to financial manage their income more efficient. Assist programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could help assist families with low income until they were able to develop job skills that would allow for an increase in their overall income.

Hunger and food insecurity has become a documented public policy that is not an inequality limited only to developing countries, but is also apparent on different levels ranging from global, national and local households. The federal definition of food insecurity is defined as the limited access to adequate nutritionally safe foods at all times for an active, healthy life (USDA, 2006, p. 1). Food security has become the essential element of health and well-being of a growing population of older adults that is estimated to increase over the next decade and continue to rise in the following decades. The majority of literature on food insecurity in the United States focuses on children and single parent households, which is research that appropriately highlights children and low- income families that are often the most food insecure in America. However, less in known about the plight and potentially vulnerable populations of older

The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program and Women’s, Infants and Children benefit programs are designed to give the recipients additional resources in order to help their households function. SNAP currently has no restrictions on types of food that are available to purchase. WIC, on the other hand, has more limits on what food items recipients can purchase. These two programs total to affect 56.6 million people. The proposed legislation states that SNAP users are only allowed to purchase staple food items and now allows WIC recipients to purchase white potatoes. Changes to the SNAP and WIC legislation would positively effect staple food items such as rice and potatoes, while foods used highly in processed foods like sugar and