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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly and colloquially still known as the Food Stamp Program, or simply food stamps, is a United States federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income persons to help them maintain adequate nutrition and health. It is a federal aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), though benefits are distributed by specific departments of U.S. states (e.g., the Division of Social Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, etc.).
In 2018, SNAP benefits supplied roughly 40 million Americans, at an expenditure of $57.1 billion. In 2017, approximately 9.2% of American households obtained SNAP benefits at some point, with approximately 16.7% of all children living in households with SNAP benefits. Beneficiaries and costs increased sharply with the Great Recession, peaked in 2013 and declined to 2017 as the economy recovered. It is the largest nutrition program of the 15 administered by FNS and is a key component of the social safety net for low-income Americans.
The amount of SNAP benefits received by a household depends on the household's size, income, and expenses. For most of its history, the program used paper-denominated "stamps" or coupons—worth $1 (brown), $5 (blue), and $10 (green)—bound into booklets of various denominations, to be torn out individually and used in single-use exchange. Because of their 1:1 value ratio with actual currency, the coupons were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Their rectangular shape resembled a U.S. dollar bill (although about one-half the size), including intaglio printing on high-quality paper with watermarks.
In the late 1990s, the Food Stamp Program was revamped, with some states phasing out actual stamps in favor of a specialized debit card system known as electronic benefit transfer (EBT), provided by private contractors. EBT has been implemented in all states since June 2004. Each month, SNAP benefits are directly deposited into the household's EBT card account. Households may use EBT to pay for food at supermarkets, convenience stores, and other food retailers, including certain farmers' markets.
The federal government's attempt to address hunger through the means of food stamps was first introduced in the 1930s after becoming possible when the U.S. Congress passed the income tax law in 1913. After the Federal government had the funding to create a social safety net, its involvement in food assistance was introduced in the 1930s, when the Great Depression caused unemployment, homelessness, and starvation to become a national issue that permeated such a high percentage of the population.
At the time of the Great Depression, farmers were growing surplus produce, but unemployed and impoverished people were unable to afford to buy it.[citation needed] The origin of food stamps was intended partially to help the poor, but just as equally to boost the economy and pay farmers a fair price for their labor.[citation needed] In essence, food stamps were intended to create a political agreement between agriculture and the federal government by giving out excess goods in a crisis.
The idea for the first food stamp program has been credited to various people, most notably Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace and the program's first administrator, Milo Perkins. Of the program, Perkins said, "We got a picture of a gorge, with farm surpluses on one cliff and under-nourished city folks with outstretched hands on the other. We set out to find a practical way to build a bridge across that chasm." The program, run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), permitted people on relief to buy orange stamps equal to their normal food expenditures.
For every dollar of orange stamps purchased, another fifty cents worth of blue stamps were received. Orange food stamps could be used at any food retailers or wholesalers, but excluded alcoholic beverages, concession stand meals that could be eaten on premises, and tobacco products. The blue stamps could only be used to buy what the USDA defined as surplus produce, which included items such as beans, eggs, fruit, and the like.
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Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly and colloquially still known as the Food Stamp Program, or simply food stamps, is a United States federal government program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income persons to help them maintain adequate nutrition and health. It is a federal aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), though benefits are distributed by specific departments of U.S. states (e.g., the Division of Social Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, etc.).
In 2018, SNAP benefits supplied roughly 40 million Americans, at an expenditure of $57.1 billion. In 2017, approximately 9.2% of American households obtained SNAP benefits at some point, with approximately 16.7% of all children living in households with SNAP benefits. Beneficiaries and costs increased sharply with the Great Recession, peaked in 2013 and declined to 2017 as the economy recovered. It is the largest nutrition program of the 15 administered by FNS and is a key component of the social safety net for low-income Americans.
The amount of SNAP benefits received by a household depends on the household's size, income, and expenses. For most of its history, the program used paper-denominated "stamps" or coupons—worth $1 (brown), $5 (blue), and $10 (green)—bound into booklets of various denominations, to be torn out individually and used in single-use exchange. Because of their 1:1 value ratio with actual currency, the coupons were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Their rectangular shape resembled a U.S. dollar bill (although about one-half the size), including intaglio printing on high-quality paper with watermarks.
In the late 1990s, the Food Stamp Program was revamped, with some states phasing out actual stamps in favor of a specialized debit card system known as electronic benefit transfer (EBT), provided by private contractors. EBT has been implemented in all states since June 2004. Each month, SNAP benefits are directly deposited into the household's EBT card account. Households may use EBT to pay for food at supermarkets, convenience stores, and other food retailers, including certain farmers' markets.
The federal government's attempt to address hunger through the means of food stamps was first introduced in the 1930s after becoming possible when the U.S. Congress passed the income tax law in 1913. After the Federal government had the funding to create a social safety net, its involvement in food assistance was introduced in the 1930s, when the Great Depression caused unemployment, homelessness, and starvation to become a national issue that permeated such a high percentage of the population.
At the time of the Great Depression, farmers were growing surplus produce, but unemployed and impoverished people were unable to afford to buy it.[citation needed] The origin of food stamps was intended partially to help the poor, but just as equally to boost the economy and pay farmers a fair price for their labor.[citation needed] In essence, food stamps were intended to create a political agreement between agriculture and the federal government by giving out excess goods in a crisis.
The idea for the first food stamp program has been credited to various people, most notably Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace and the program's first administrator, Milo Perkins. Of the program, Perkins said, "We got a picture of a gorge, with farm surpluses on one cliff and under-nourished city folks with outstretched hands on the other. We set out to find a practical way to build a bridge across that chasm." The program, run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), permitted people on relief to buy orange stamps equal to their normal food expenditures.
For every dollar of orange stamps purchased, another fifty cents worth of blue stamps were received. Orange food stamps could be used at any food retailers or wholesalers, but excluded alcoholic beverages, concession stand meals that could be eaten on premises, and tobacco products. The blue stamps could only be used to buy what the USDA defined as surplus produce, which included items such as beans, eggs, fruit, and the like.