Food Stamps Pros And Cons

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 argument was formulated from two stories in the documentary that are very eye opening. The first story is of Barbie, an unemployed single mother from Philadelphia, who struggles to feed both of her children on food stamps. Often times Barbie would skip meals to make sure her children have enough to eat. Unfortunately, she would occasionally have to send her children to bed on an empty stomach simply because she ran out of food stamps. The second story that supports the argument is that of Tremonica. She is a 2nd grader from Mississippi whose health is put at risk because of the amount of processed food she consumes because it’s cheaper than fruits and vegetables. Although it may not appear like Tremonica

There is a viral video of a woman going off on a man she saw using food stamps in Walmart. The woman and man were in line checking out their groceries. When the woman saw the man pull out a food stamp card, she went berserk. The man had his young son with him. The woman screamed at the man and told him that he was not providing for his son. She stated that the government was taking care of the man and his son.

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

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.

only conviction, and twelve states have eliminated the ban entirely. Lastly, women are disproportionately affected by such provisions since they are the primary recipient of these welfare benefits. Since the adoption of the welfare reform law of 1996, an estimated of 92,000 women in 23 states, which more than half of them were African American and Latina (Mauer, 2003). Public Assistance such as food stamps is a critical component to support their family, how the state handles the loss of eligibility varies, with some actions being more punitive than others. For example, Texas has a lifetime ban on food stamps for people convicted of a drug felony. The state loses out on federal funds that could be used to help people with drug felony convictions

Johnny gets home from school and makes his way straight to the kitchen. He is hungry and wants a quick, yummy snack, but when he opens up the fridge, there is nothing there. Now he has to wait until his mom brings home dinner at six o'clock. Can you imagine what it would be like to experience this every day? Unbelievable, right? Well, for many children and families, this is their reality. What could possibly cause this, what are the effects, and what are people doing to help these poor families? A large number of children do not have access to fresh and nutritious food, due to lack of supermarkets or living on food stamps. This lack of healthy food can affect childhood development immensely and can lead to obesity and other diseases. Many people are doing what they can to help, like opening community gardens, connecting farms, restaurants, and hotels with food banks, and organizing food drives.

Since its conception welfare has been a source of continuous controversy. The main negative throughout the years has been that people on welfare will never attempt to find a job and just live off the government, but recently there has been a lot of attention brought specifically to the recipients that are drug abusers. Therefore, some taxpayers are calling for a system in which recipients are drug tested prior to receiving aid, but these systems are strongly opposed by those who are current members of welfare.

This writing will be about the usage of food stamps, or maybe I should say the abuse of food stamps. I see a lot of food stamp abuse in my work environment and i would like to find out how they really work and if the system is really abused. I intend to learn and research about the background of food stamps and how the system really got started along with its original intentions. I would also like to research people's personal encounters with them, may it be what they have seen or the stories of the people who actually have them, whether they abuse them or use them for their good.

Public welfare is the term which stands for the variety of tax-supported programs that provide cash assistance or services to residents who are not able to financially take care of themselves (Hansan, 2011). This program was started in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. There are several types of welfare including health care, food stamps, child care assistance, cash aid, and housing assistance. Medicaid is considered to be one of the welfare programs; it is a medical care that provides cash income assistance for the poor (“Medicaid”, 2002). Recipients must meet multiple requirements that are established prior to receiving aid. The requirements include low income, child dependency, family size, and any crisis situation such as pregnancy, unemployment, and medical emergencies (Welfare Information, n.d.). As of today, some states require welfare recipients to get drug tested when applying for financial benefits. Arguments arose whether the test should take place or not. Many people believe that the government should not drug test welfare recipients because unpleasant consequences occur. Not only does drug testing recipients create chaos in the U.S. bureaucratic system, it also labels the recipients, creating stigma and deviance especially if the test comes out positive. Welfare recipients are being discriminated by society and this may lead to knowledge gaps between the underclass and other social classes which creates a caste system. Many negative effects take place as

The initial program for nutritional support from the government was established in 1964; the program was altered in 1977, and remains the largest federal nutrition program for low-income households (USDA). Census reports from the Department of Agriculture reveal that we more than 47 million low income families rely on the SNAP benefits monthly within the Unites States. However, more than 50% of the recipients are children and elderly residences; about 8% actually receive cash welfare. Approximately 30% of SNAP recipients have earnings, or reside in a household with earnings. Nonetheless, government spending at its highest; money allocated for programs that have little or no monetary return, such as the SNAP program are deemed useless, wasteful, and detrimental to our ever growing capitalist economy. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse

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

In order to further support low-income communities and improve this population’s health the federal government needs to not only continue with the supplemental food programs they’ve already put in place, but enhance them by considering the barriers and address them. The government can intervene by integrating other components to the programs that further support people and help eliminate the main barrier by providing them direct access to grocery stores and healthier options. In order for government resources to be more effective in areas where there are limited grocery store options in the community, the government could begin by providing transportation services in areas where grocery stores are limited or if any at all. Providing transportation to those who are receiving government resources like WIC and SNAP would allow families to exhaust

In today’s modern society, the United States faces many public policy issues, whether those issues include social welfare, immigration or even environmental issues. Congress receives numerous issues on public polices every day, but they cannot handle and solve every issues that comes across their daily agenda, nor can they satisfy every person in this country. Congress prioritizes on those issues that are more important and relevant to find a probable solution too. A growing issue we see that in today’s society are issues in the social welfare system. Social Welfare has so many issues within some of those issues include the food stamps, and even in the healthcare system. The matters in social welfare requires every individuals help to resolve, not just congress. The second major public policy issue we face in American today are within the Public Assistance Programs. Those programs include the SNAP, SSI, and even the TANF program.

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