Premium Essay

Food Stamp Program Analysis

Submitted By
Words 1743
Pages 7
One of our biggest social welfare policies is our Food stamp program rename (SNAP). The program is fully funded by the government with states paying fifty percent of the administrative cost (USDA, 2014).The United states Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2014) stated over 46 million people rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed individuals and families. The SNAP program has been in existence on a permanent basis since 1964. Under President Johnson it became a permanent fixture of our social welfare policy (Berg, 2008). The main goal of the program has stayed consistent over the years. The government wanted to improve levels of nutrition among low income families and strengthen the agricultural economy by expanding …show more content…
The initial program served about four million Americans and cost about 262 million dollars over a four year period (USDA, 2014). At that time the first food stamps program was considered a success therefore ended due to the prosperity of WW1. In addition the conditions of unmarketable food surpluses and widespread unemployment no longer existed (Berg, 2008). However eighteen years later the food stamps program was signed into law again by President Kennedy. But the problems that necessitated the policy the first time were different. According to USDA (2014) the food stamp program was enacted in 1961 to expand food distribution. However the same policy enacted in 1938 was implemented again in 1961 with very little change to the policy. Unfortunately the only change was the food stamps were purchased, and the special stamps that were used in the first policy for surplus foods was eliminated (USDA, 2014). Therefore President Johnson signed into law a policy without analyzing the current problem and current conditions for the need of the program. The program this time was enacted in an effort to strengthen the agricultural economy and provide improved levels of nutrition among low income households (USDA, 2014). People also believed congress wanted the food stamp law permanent …show more content…
While the global financial crisis left many people out of work the SNAP program was a safety net for many Americans (Wilde, 2013). Although the budget increased, the goal of the policy kept many people from financial hardship resulting from what people call the great recession (Gundersen, 2015). Furthermore the program goals contributed to a better quality of life for those in need at desperate times (Berg, 2008). Another strength of the SNAP program is the benefit to the economy. The increase of one billion dollars in SNAP expenditures raises the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which raises employment (Wilde, 2013). In addition the increase in benefits recently also contributed to the economic upturn. According Gundersen (2015) the SNAP program has shown to reduce poverty and improve children’s health and historically has proven social policy can work. Unfortunately, with such an enormous policy there will be weaknesses and limitations. Even as big as the program is it still excludes families just above the poverty line (Wilde, 2013). Furthermore benefits allotted to families is still not enough. For that reason many people still utilize food pantry and soup kitchens even though they receive SNAP benefits. According to a report written by the USDA inflation due to the recession raised food prices (Nord, 2013). Causing a direct effect on benefits not being enough to get families

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Legal Snap

...benefits on fast food? Would it change your opinion if the underprivileged were specifically the “elderly”, “disabled” or “homeless?” Under the law people have these opportunities, even though everyone may not agree with it. The general concern is the “unhealthiness” that fast food brings to America; obesity and diabetes is already a concern and the government using American tax dollars to promote unhealthy eating doesn’t help. B. Statement of Relevant Legal Principles and Rules of Law Food Stamps Act of 1977 Under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 eligible households may be issued coupons with which to purchase from approved food stores. It was enacted to promote the general welfare by permitting low-income households to obtain a nutritious diet through normal channels of trade by increasing food purchasing power for all eligible households who apply for participation. Under this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to formulate and administer a food stamp program under which eligible households will be provided with the opportunity to obtain a more nutritious diet through the issuance of coupons. These coupons are to be used solely to purchase food from retail stores which have been approved for the participation on the program. (3 C. J.S. Agriculture § 36) The Secretary of Agriculture will propose allowable amounts of financial resources that a eligible household may own, and assure that a household eligible to participate in the food stamp program will not be...

Words: 1116 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Ending Poverty

...Audience Analysis My Targeted audience I want to center around for this would be men and women who are interested in knowing and understanding more about poverty, food stamps, etc. Who either are in poverty or are not, and with high school education and up. When it comes to poverty, I feel each year more and more families are in crisis and in need. However I also feel some people are getting government funding help who, in reality, do not need it. I am not saying everyone who is receiving help does not actually need it, but there are people out there who if they put in more effort, they wouldn’t have to depend on government assisted help nor would be struggling day to day. I have not been in a situation where I myself needed help, however I do know some people who are truly needed help and received yet, as well as others who honestly did not need the help but did not want to work hard. I am hoping my paper shows both the good and bad of today’s situation with people struggling, and hopefully some readers will have changed opinions on this whether it be good or bad. My Paper is written in APA format. Ending Poverty One Meal at a Time After reading the article “On the Edge of Poverty” by Sheryl Gay Stolberg[->0], it’s realized that it was written from a point of view that shows the many down falls of a situation where a SNAP card is needed yet doesn’t point much at improving it. In many ways it supports the food stamp system, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance...

Words: 1386 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

The Welfare System

...The Welfare System The welfare system is run by the government that runs different programs that was originally intended to help the unemployed or underemployed (Welfare Info, n.d.). It went from just helping those two groups and branched significantly into helping low income families, disabled, and single parent families be able to live the best life possible. Some of the programs include "Medicaid, Food Stamps, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Head Start, Work Study, and Medicare" (Welfare Info, n.d.). Another very commonly known one is Social Security which is mainly for seniors when they retire. The history of the welfare system is quite interesting. Many years ago before the Welfare system had even began; the colonies actually imported the British Poor Laws (Welfare Info, n.d.). This basically separated those that could work and those that couldn't work due to their age or health. During the 1800's the US tried to continue work with the government so they could better benefit the poor but it wasn't until President Franklin D. Roosevelt the Social Security Act began in 1935 (Welfare Info, n.d.). With this act, it was able to launch programs to help many more people than just the elderly or those that couldn't work because of health reasons. During Bill Clinton's Presidency, he signed the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act" and with this, the federal government...

Words: 2784 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Services for Low-Income Families

...Definition of terms Chapter lll- Methodology Restate purpose and research questions Population and sampling Instrumentation Procedure and time frame Analysis plan Validity and reliability Assumptions Scope and limitations Chapter lV Results Chapter V – Conclusions and Recommendations Summary Discussions Recommendations References Appendix Chapter I Introduction The Department of Human Services in Arkansas offers a variety of services. Group 3 will focus on five specific services. These services include: Transitional Employment Assistance (TEA), Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) formerly known as food stamps, Child Care Assistance (CCAP), and AR Kids First. The Department of Human Services is required by state law to: help individuals and families meet financial, medical, and social needs; assist people to become self-sufficient; and help protect children and adults from abuse, neglect and exploitation. Group 3 researched these services to investigate qualifications and use of these services. Statement of the Problem The researchers of this study discovered that residents in Arkansas are becoming more dependent on government assistance. Because of the continuous growth in dependency, tax payers are paying more for the programs and increased government spending on dependence-creating programs has taking place. Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine and identify the problems Arkansans are facing with receiving government assistance...

Words: 6762 - Pages: 28

Free Essay

5566

...Osborne i a School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1350 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, United States b Columbia University, United States c Boston College, United States d Cornell University, United States e Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago, United States f University of Chicago, United States g Princeton University, United States h Iowa State University, United States i University of Texas at Austin, United States Available online 10 January 2007 Abstract This analysis summarizes trends in family economic well-being from five non-experimental, longitudinal welfare-to-work studies launched following the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA). The studies include a sizable group of parents and other caregivers who received TANF at the point of sample selection or shortly thereafter, and share a wide range of similar measures of economic well-being. This analysis provides descriptive information on how these families are faring over time. Our results confirm what has been found by previous studies. Many families remain dependent on public benefits, and are either poor or near-poor, despite gains in some indicators of economic well-being. We caution that these aggregate statistics may mask important heterogeneity among families. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: PRWORA; TANF; Welfare reform ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 608 263...

Words: 12726 - Pages: 51

Premium Essay

Indiana Grocery Case Analysis

...ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION In an administrative disqualification hearing, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) bears the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that an intentional program violation has occurred. In this hearing, it is the position of OIG that the Individual used her EBT card for SNAP trafficking in an amount totaling $1,226.26 during October 1, 2013 through May 2, 2014, at Indiana Grocery. During the course of their investigation, the FNS completed a store survey at Indiana Grocery in comparison to other comparable grocery stores in the area. (Exhibit C-5) Based on this survey any transaction at or above $38.00 could be considered suspicious based on the inventory and size of the store. The store was approximately 600 square feet in size. The store had no shopping carts,...

Words: 490 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Welfare

...affected. These Virginia residents were affected financially, economicaly, and even mentally. The federal government of the responded by coming up with a welfare program whose objective was to assist those who were in debt. This mostly applied to those who had little or no income for groceries and gas. By comparing the cost of a single parent on assistance versus a single parent working part-time not on assistance, the welfare system benefits the non-worker. These debt relief programs are an essential idea because they assist in minimizing bankruptcy in Virginia. This has been the goal of Virginia residents because it acts as a guiding tool in ensuring that the levels of unemployment and poverty are always kept as low as possible. For example, a single parent who get gates state medical and food stamps receives US $ 4000 annually while a single parent working part- time and getting nothing from the state gets more than US $ 10,0000 annually (Shapiro, 2007). However, even though many Americans are in support of this program there are a few out there who are against it. This is because according to them, this welfare program has brought in the aspect of laziness and over dependency on their government with more than 20% of the population depending on the welfare (Heinemann, 1996). They continue abusing the welfare program by not making an effort in applying or looking for jobs, possessing more children to attain the assistance and not engaging themselves in marriages to continue...

Words: 1380 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Marketing Plan 2

...Marketing Plan Teresa Bowie University of Phoenix Marketing MKT/421 Tracy Coomes October 2, 2012 Marketing Plan: Phase II Introduction Subway is a growing business with the strength of motivating the world to healthy eating. So how do we identify the segmentation criteria that will affect their target market selection? To understand the effect on the segmentation criteria the key is to identify the target market of the business. In order for the market to achieve their goals, they must follow the step of researching the target market. Describe the organizational buyers and consumers of the new services “the reward system” and the factors that influence their purchasing decisions. Factor will discuss how their involvement will affect the marketing strategy along with analyzing current competitors and define the competitive landscape for the service of the “reward system”. The segmentation criteria Market segmentation is common marketing processes that entail separating a large audience into distinctive segments with consumers who have similar needs or wants. This process identifies targeted marketing segments, so companies can use discretely the marketing mix approach for the most profitable markets. These processes build marketing investments and allow the investments to be more efficient. Detailed criterion is helpful in targeting...

Words: 2183 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Cashier Training Need Assessment

...Cashier Training Needs Assessment Food City Beverly Moreno Park University HR421 Corporate Training & Development Taylor, Debbie G. Cashier Training Needs Assessment Food City Food City is a fast and up and coming competitor in the retail grocery business. Established in 2009, the company’s commitment is to provide excellent customer service while providing low cost to the community. Food city wants to offer their employees the support that is needed to encourage growth, skills, knowledge, and higher performance. Food city wants to stand above the competition to obtain our business objectives by providing training support to all employees. It is the observation of the company that cashiers are the ones most likely to be in direct contact with the customers. This opens the door to communicate and perform exceptional customer service. An immediate area of focus is on the front-line implementing the opportunity to increase customer service, carry out correct codes and procedures, listening and understanding information while using appropriate vocabulary, language and tone. Since customers are our number one priority, development of curriculum is in direct response to increasing demand in the operation for training materials that will target specific application of work related skills. Corporate office has asked for input to create a training program designed for continued, up-to-date materials given the company’s business strategy for resources...

Words: 1283 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Miss

...A Policy Options Brief by the Public Health Law Center January 2009 e Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Opportunities to Influence Participant’s Health in Minnesota Suggested citation: Maggie Mahoney, Tobacco Law Center, The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); Opportunitites to Influence Participants’ Health in Minnesota (2008). December 2008 This publication was prepared by the Public Health Law Center, a program of the Tobacco Law Center at William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, with financial support provided in part by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. This policy brief is provided for educational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice or as a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney. Laws and rules cited are current as of the policy brief’s publication date. The Tobacco Law Center provides legal information and education about public health, but does not provide legal representation. Readers with questions about the application of the law to specific facts are encouraged to consult legal counsel familiar with the laws of their jurisdictions. Copyright © 2008 by the Tobacco Law Center Table of Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ..................................................................

Words: 13713 - Pages: 55

Free Essay

The Changing Face of Welfare: a Comprehensive Research Study

...established as a Federal program during the Great Depression. In 1935, Congress enacted Aide to Dependent Children (ADC), a relatively modest program whose primary focuses was on widows, orphans, divorced or deserted mothers and their children. By 1937, ADC covered only about 7000,000 people and at least two-thirds of eligible people with children were not covered (Almanac of Policy Issues, 2001). The program grew slowly but steadily over the next two decades, providing assistance to about 3 million people by 1960. In the 1960’s and 1970’s ADC changed to Aide to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and by 1992 with the election of Bill Clinton and his promise to “end welfare as we know it. With the election of a Republic Congress in 1994, Congress was determined to change the existing welfare system and in that same year President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (PRWORA) as welfare reached an all-time peak of 14.2 million recipients, 5 million families and 9.6 million children (Almanac of Policy Issue, 2001). The new act ended welfare entitlement and replaced it with a new block grant providing $16.5 billion per year to states to assist the needy (Almanac of Policy Issue, 2001). This new program was called the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and would remain in effect until 2012 when the face of welfare would change again under the leadership of President Obama. This paper will provide an analysis of the social welfare...

Words: 3679 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Poverty Is Literally Making People Sick Analysis

...Analysis of “Poverty is Literally Making People Sick…” Researchers found, when they looked at data for California between 2000 and 2008, that “Poverty Is Literally Making People Sick Because They Can't Afford Food”. This article by Matthew O’Brian, whose title is previously quoted, is studded with hard facts and statistics. These are meant to persuade his audience into caring and helping the poverty-stricken, as well as influence you to do something about it. He does this by offering clear explanations as to why poverty could affect the health of people, using multiple statistics, and offers solutions to the problem, as well as bringing up other’s thoughts on the subject. Pointing out that, for those living below the poverty line there is over a 26% increase in likelihood that one visits the...

Words: 770 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Final-Report-Booster-Juice

...Dirube (130153800) Prepared for: David Swanston Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 BU 362, Section B4, Group 402 Wilfrid Laurier University Table of Contents Executive Summary ………………………………………………………….………….... 2 Opportunity ………………………………………………………………….……………. 3 Stakeholders ………………………………………………………………….………….... 3 Analysis …………………………………………………………………….…………... 3-9 Internal Analysis ………………………………………………….…………….. 3-5 External Analysis ……………………………………………….…………...….. 5-7 Competitive Analysis …………………………………………….……………... 7-8 Consumer Analysis ………………………………………………….………….. 8-9 Decision Criteria …………………………………………………………….…………. 9-10 Alternative Decision ……………………………………………………….………….. 10-11 . Recommendation …………………………………………………………….………... 11-12 Implementation Plan ……………………………………………………….………..… 12-14 Expected Results ………………………………………………………….……………..... 14 Exhibits ………………………………………………………………………………... 15-19     1   Executive Summary Booster Juice has began expanding into the Indian market with 18 stores currently operating. Booster Juice has been exposed to the opportunity of further expanding their company into the Indian market. The Indian market for easy access foods and meal replacements is one that is extremely large and diverse, and presents many opportunities. Booster Juice has been widely successful in other countries around the world, specifically in North America, and is looking to expand further internationally. India, due to its potential market growth and low ...

Words: 5250 - Pages: 21

Premium Essay

Contrary to Popular Beliefs, Entitlements Works!

...form of Medicare and Medicaid, unemployment, welfare, food stamps and child support. Entitlements also include grants paid in lieu of tax credits to energy firms. Why the debate? Entitlements account for $246 billion and critics of entitlements believe it should be cut and taxpayer money could fund better projects. Supports of entitlements are usually those that have benefited from such programs. However, the shrinking number of taxpayers contributing to government revenues and the growing number of people receiving benefits is cause to worry. The constitutional laws allowing entitlements were enacted in 1860s to protect citizen from poverty or an oppressive government (Jost, 2003). Today, many that benefit from entitlements are from inner city and low-income families and are the people that need entitlements the most. Effects on the economic society Some believe that sitting around waiting on your unemployment or welfare and not actively contributing to society encourages laziness. Added to this increased burden on a shrinking tax payer pool, critics want to cut funding and believe those funds could be best spent in other areas. However, those working closely with the recipients of those funds firmly believe stop funding is not the answer. Robin Tucker, a social worker who supports entitlements say entitlements “should focus on education and job skills not just welfare checks and food stamps.” Most programs are continuous with the exception of unemployment and...

Words: 709 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Government Assistance

...Unemployment Rate? R. Khalil Muhammad Sociology Class July 19, 2011 A little over 20 years ago the general perception of recipients of government assistance, particularly welfare, was negative, racially bias, and based on distorted facts. Researcher Martin Gilen used evidence from public opinion polls, analysis of public policy and welfare reform, and media reports to conclude in his book “Why Americans Hate Welfare” that much of the negatives feelings about welfare were related to “the perception of welfare as a program for African Americans and the misrepresentation in the media of most welfare recipients as black and the undeserving poor.” But today, 1 in 6 Americans receive some kind of government assistance[1], dispelling the false notion that African Americans are the primary recipients of government assistance. The report indicated that government anti-poverty programs have grown to meet the needs of recession victims. More than 4.4 million people are on welfare in America, which represents an 18% percent increase during the recession. More than 40 million people in America receive food stamps, an increase of nearly 50% percent during the economic downturn and ten million Americans receive unemployment benefits. The evidence suggests that this information has contributed to the softening of old frowned-upon perceptions against recipients of government assistance that made recipients ashamed to admit that they received...

Words: 879 - Pages: 4