Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Report

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).

The federal food stamp program (SNAP), makes up the largest portion of the budget for the US Department of Agriculture.1 In New York alone 15.3% of residents receive benefits from the SNAP program.2 The purpose of SNAP is to provide nutrition to low-income citizens, however SNAP beneficiaries experience higher rates of obesity compared non-reciepiants.3 According to a report published by the USDA, Americans use food stamps to buy more than $600 million worth of “sweetened beverages,” and bought hundreds of millions more of junk food and sugary snacks.4 Lack of regulation and reform to the SNAP program is causing harm to the public.

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

In the United State, there is a federal nutrition program for low income people to help food budget and buy healthy food. People who have low income in the United States get the food stamps, also known as “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)”. For every month, eligible people who have low income get benefits deposited in to their EBT account. Once they get food stamp, people can purchase food items including seeds and plants to grow food in their house or backyard. It can be used at a grocery store, a supermarket, a farmer 's market, and a shelter that serves meals. However, with all these great benefits, people still eat unhealthy because of too much time consuming, limited money, some food dessert area, and the benefits allow people to eat junk food.

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

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

It has become impossible for low-income families to provide healthy meals for their families. Government, Farm policies and the food industry itself are main reasons as to why the cost of healthy foods has become harder for American families, especially low-income families, to provide the healthy foods needed to fight the obesity epidemic. With low- income families being the main focus point on the problem of

75% of people eligible for the SNAP program actually use it, 44% of all participants are children and ⅔ of those children live with a single parent, 76% of all benefits go to houses with children, 11.9% og benefits go to the disabled, and 10% goes to senior citizens(“SNAP”). 39.8% of participants are White, 25.5% are Black, 10.9% are Hispanic, 2.4% are Asian, and 1% are Native American(“SNAP”). More than half of the recipients are children or the elderly while the rest are unemployed working age individuals, only about 10% of all recipients receive cash welfare benefits(“SNAP”). Andrew Bernstein said, “Because a disproportionate number of black Americans were poor in the late 1960s, and because the Civil Rights Movement of that era was an attempt to redress a century of racial injustices, the governments war on poverty coalesced into a campaign heavily directed towards blacks… disintegration of the family as the single greatest problem confronting black Americans”(Haugen & DeMott). Undocumented immigrants cannot and have never been able to get benefits, documented immigrants can only get benefits if they have lived in the US for five years, but there are exceptions for this including benefits for refugees, children, and individuals staying in the US to avoid persecution in their own country(“SNAP”). The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation act (PRWORA) enforced welfare

Recent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program (S.N.A.P.), also known as the U.S. Food Stamp Program, have become extremely controversial. Whether Congress was wrong to reduce funding to the program remains a question. There are two principles that may be used to represent each side of this debate. The difference principle will be used to represent those who believe the program cuts were unjustified and the harm principle will be used to represent those who believe the program cuts were justified.

The Government tries to tell people what that they can and cannot do when it comes to food stamps. This is not fair to the people who use SNAP Assistance clearly telling people what they can and cannot buy with SNAP Assistance is nonchalant. The United States government should not be able to tell people what they could buy with their SNAP because it is unconstitutionalize. SNAP Assistance is a government controlled program that helps low-income Americans put food on the table, providing benefits that are timely targeted,and temporary. SNAP beneficiaries receive what looks like a debit card, with which they pay in supermarkets. Ways you can get food stamps are; Current food stamp programs have little work required as a condition of assistance, encouraging the relatively well off the system and those in head to remain in poverty The Nutrition Assistance Program is targeted at our

Amy interviews Maria Elizabeth Villalpando, a student attending UCR and states how she was not able to receive food stamp benefits due to her parent’s income. As Amy interviewed Maria she later explains that her brother, David has friends who receive food stamp benefits and exchange it for money. As the article goes on a cashier from Stater Bros, Angeline Gonzalez claims to see food stamp fraud almost every day. Gonzalez explains how she works hard for her money and it frustrates her witnessing people that are falsely taking advantage. Gonzalez later adds, how half the people who pay with food stamps drive off with expensive cars.The government gets fooled almost every day, to decrease the chances of fraud the government should enforce strict application guidelines such as detailed background checks to investigate to who they are actually providing

Low socioeconomic status individuals have limited access to healthy and affordable foods which sequentially contributes to obesity. One might contend that the government provides assistance (WIC and Food Stamps) to

Food stamps are government-issued coupons for low income families. People in America like to take advantage of those coupons and use them for unhealthy food and drinks. In SNAP households, soft drinks are ranked the second highest purchase (Tanner). SNAP is the formerly known program for food stamps. In one study, low income women admitted their babies into a government nutrition assistance program. Researchers confirmed that “The rate of youngsters at risk for obesity fell during the study, from almost 15 percent in 2010 to 12 percent overall in 2014” (Tanner). In that study, the government took control of what food stamps were available, and the obesity rates fell among the families. Additionally, another survey published by SNAP provides a glimpse into the shopping cart of a typical house. As said by a group of Stanford researchers, “Banning sugary drinks for SNAP would be expected to significantly reduce obesity prevalence and type 2 diabetes incidence” (O’Connor). Here, it means, that instead of promoting unhealthy food, the government can give out food stamps that are a healthier alternative for the public . Although this may be true, some people consider that it is society’s responsibility to be healthy. Ryan Schwertfeger, president of the Student Senate concludes, “Those who make healthy choices will have no reason to suffer or worry about those