The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Essay

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

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).

of 2008-2009. For households that struggle to meet their basic nutritional needs, SNAP benefits can relieve hunger and food insecurity. Research shows SNAP participants gain access to more essential nutrients in their home food supply compared to eligible non-participants. Program participation is especially strong among children, and research shows child SNAP participation is associated with a number of positive

In a report authored by Kathleen FitzGerald and Emily Holcombe of CBO’s Budget Analysis Division and Molly Dahl and Jonathan Schwabish of CBO’s Health and Human Resources Division, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP) and associated costs were explained in detail. At the point in history that this report was written (2012) Congress was demanding an explanation of the increased cost of the SNAP program, this report was able to use data to directly link the increased spending to the unemployment rate, caused by the national economic crisis.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federally funded program that allows low income individuals/families to purchase healthy foods when their food budget does not allow it. In California SNAP is known as CalFresh. This program is overseen by The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) -Food and Nutrition Services (FNS). Stakeholders of SNAP are farmers/producers, grocers, hunger, poverty and public health advocates, Departments of Health or Social Services (state), SNAP offices (local), and participants with gross income below 130% of poverty.1,2

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “Forty-nine million Americans live in food insecure households in today 's society”. This is the problem that the current SNAP program isn’t addressing, that funding is not enough to help these forty-nine million Americans struggling to get enough food to feed themselves and their families. We need to provide them the food that they need in order to survive, but we also must devise a plan to give them the healthiest and inexpensive choices that they deserve. For example, why would it make sense that on average a box of strawberries is more expensive than a bag of chips and it holds less nutritional value? For those that are poor in our society and cannot afford healthy eating, they

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.

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

The supplemental nutrition assistance program –SNAP helps families in domestic hunger safety. Most might refer to them as Food stamps. SNAP is helpful for people who need assistance facing poverty. The Hamilton Project says, “This makes it the country’s most critical tool in battling poverty. The program kept 4.9 million out of poverty in 2012.” Many may argue, why are people still being unassisted in receiving SNAP benefits? As Michael Tanner writes in his policy analysis, “Snap is a deeply troubled program that has high administrative costs and significant levels of fraud and abuse” (1). Which leads me to say, it is time for the state to

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, is a government program to help its participants buy food. The amount of money issued each month is calculated by income, number of people in household, and other factors. SNAP benefits create a way for people to eat. But it also helps people in more ways than just filling their stomachs. And yet, there are those who do not see the benefits in continuing this program. If you have never experienced having to use government benefits just to survive day to day, that view is your luxury. Food is important to your health, and when you are not getting the proper nutrients, your health suffers.

Food stamps or other words known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP play a critical part in today’s society. More than 46 million American’s rely on food stamps to get through their everyday life. This program kept 4.9 million people out of poverty in 2012 not to mention the over 2 million kids. Food stamps are a voucher from the government for those on low income, exchangeable for food. Many families that have a large number of members, families that only have one single parent responsible for the entire income, or even the disabled which are unable to work rely heavily on this service just to keep food on the table. Furthermore, this is why this

Another criticism regarding SNAP is that by providing families or individuals with the means to purchase food, those people are encouraged to depend on the government for life or perhaps it will even create intergenerational dependence. Typically, households who qualify for SNAP utilize it for just 8 to 10 months (“Use the Media to…”). There are restrictions that limit healthy adults without dependents to only three months of food assistance every three years. Another myth that ties in with the dependency concern is the idea that only lazy people who do not want to work receive food assistance. According to the USDA, 42% of recipients are part of a household where someone works and 80% of recipients had a job in the year before or after receiving benefits (“Use the Media to…”). Additionally, it has been estimated that only 75% of the households who would qualify for SNAP actually utilize the program (Ribar & Swann, 2014). It is also important to note that children, the elderly, and people with disabilities make up more than half of the recipients of food assistance (SNAP-Frequently Asked Questions).

The recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are ripping off the government for millions. According to data collected, “Food stamp fraud costs taxpayers about $750 million a year, or 1 percent of the $75 billion program that makes up the bulk of the department's total budge” (www.fns.usda.gov). A better resort to these burdens to taxpayers should be better oversight and cutbacks. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is one government assistance program that needs to be revitalized.

There were 45,766,672 people who participated in FY 2015. SNAP participants try to buy cheaper food to have more portions in a limited budget. They purchase food items with high calories from fat and sugar rather than buying enough grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes (Molitor, Sugerman, Sciortino, 2016). The unhealthy food choice has shown a positive association between SNAP participants and obesity. The emphasis on fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains will encourage them to consume healthier foods that are nutritious and good for health (Choi, Seligman, & Basu, 2017). Obesity has increased dramatically over the decades and many other risk factors are associated with it. It also give rise to numerous other diseases for example heart diseases,

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.