As Jean-Paul Sartre once said, “When the rich people fight wars with one another, poor people are the ones to die.” Or in other terms, the poor usually get the worst end of the deal. In today’s society, lots of people’s annual salary and social standards affect the food they eat, how many times they eat out, and how much food they get. And for some people that may be a major problem. Many citizen’s believe that the government should take charge and change the issues in America’s food industry. The government should tax junk foods and subsidize the prices of healthy foods so that America’s social rankings and incomes don’t effect citizen’s diets.
To start things off, about 15%, or 42 million, of the U.S. population live below the poverty line
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The government has been attempting to help people through the food stamp program, but there may be some slight issues. People may ponder, how can there be issues in the program if it is helping people? But, there are more problems in the program than the eye can see. “The food stamp program has changed a lot over the years.”(awkward color). As people may think, food stamps are helping people out tremendously. It is true that the food stamps are helping people, not not as much as everyone thinks. “For most people, food stamps only make up a part of their food budget.”(blue). And, for instance, food stamps only cover so much food and the stamps may not support the people using them to buy certain foods. Therefore, sometimes taking away the option of some of the nutritional food that would normally be in their …show more content…
Food stamps have helped so many families get through the struggles of putting food on the table. “The food aid’s purpose is to make sure U.S. citizen’s are able to feed their families.”(awkward color). When was the last time everyone took a moment to think about how many people would not get to eat that night if the government did not help people buy food. Also, many people in America are eligible for food stamps, and the citizens that are, may not even know it. “Many different kinds of people, like unemployed, part-time workers, the elderly, people who need public assistance, disabled people, or people with law incomes may be eligible for food stamps.”(blue). Food stamps have created a great impact on many people’s lives, and if the government would open the coverage of food stamps to all foods, the people who are using them may get the right food in their diets. By putting a limit on the types of food people buy with food stamps, the citizens using the food stamps are pretty much letting the government decide what the buyers can and can not
Everyday Americans die from the diseases they carry from obesity. Many Americans over eat because their social problems or because they are hereditary. Many plans have been discussed but finding the solution is the problem. Junk foods and unhealthy beverages have corrupted children’s minds all over the nation and putting a stop on it could lead to other benefits. Unhealthy foods and drinks should be taxed and healthy foods should be advertised more to help prevent American obesity.
With more and more people becoming unemployed and applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), it is imperative that we understand the benefits as well as problems this causes. Even while researching this topic and talking to some of my family and friends about it, it surprised me the amount of those who do not understand food stamps. Coming from the SNAP website, “Food stamps offer nutritional assistance to millions of eligible low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities” (United States). This program helps millions of people per year and gives upwards of $75 billion and rising. With the prices of food increasing due to inflation, beneficiaries are receiving around $400 at most per month. Using the Electronic benefit transfer systems (EBT), beneficiaries can buy goods from a grocery store using a credit-card like transaction, which takes the money off of their card. The benefits are received monthly on a specific date and vary in amounts from person to person. One family may receive $300 per month because they have three kids and need the extra money, while another may receive $100 or less depending on financial status. The application process includes completing and filing an application form, being interviewed, and verifying facts crucial to determining eligibility. In the past, these applications did not require a drug screening to get benefits, but more and more states are adopting this. There are many drawbacks to SNAP as well such as taking money from working people’s paychecks every week and people abusing the system. Talking about a very opinionated subject, we must remove bias and answer whether or not the Food Stamp system should be limited.
People should be able to purchase junk food with food stamps. Others might assume that they have no money so why waste it on junk food? Food stamps help numerous people if they struggle with food at home, or don’t earn enough salary. Moreover, why waste it on junk food?
Many families and people have become too dependent on food stamps. “Critics of food stamps and government spending, however, argue that too many families have become dependent on government aid.”(NoteCard #1) But if they did not have this program people would go hungry. “11.9 million people went hungry in the United States”... “that included nearly 700,000 children, up more than 50% from the year before.”(NoteCard #2, Point 2) The program does good and helps people but it also spends a lot of money to get people food stamps. “..food-stamp recipients has soared to 44 million from 26 million in 2007, and the costa have more than doubled to $77 billion from $33 billion.”(NoteCard #5) But in the end, is it worth it? People need the assistance. It does help people from going hungry and keeps them at least with a little food in their stomach to that keeps them from starving. A lot of people who could not get jobs, were eligible for the program because they did not have a source of income. “Critics of food stamps and government spending, however, argue that too many families have become dependent on government aid.”(NoteCard #1) Since not everyone could get work, the government changed the requirements and it went for the better and for the
This SNAP program originates from the latter half of the nineteen-thirties around the Great Depression. One of the worst problems from this era in our history was feeding everyone. SAMP was first introduced in New York in 1939 and they actually used orange and blue stamps, thus creating the term “Food Stamps.” John F. Kennedy helped to fuel the second stage of the process through his campaign. There was pilot program between 1961-1964 filled with studies, reports and legislative proposals”(FNS). “The Federal Food Stamp Act of 1964 is the most significant food plan in the united states” this act started it all. “It provides food stamps for needy individuals that can be exchanged like money in authorized stores” (Cornell). The same year the act was passed “there were 380,000 people in twenty two different states.”
In 1939, at the end of the Great Depression, is when the Food Stamp Plan was established. It was part of the New Deal that was put in place by President Roosevelt. It was made for low-income families who couldn’t afford essential foods. Participants in the program bought orange stamps which bought household items such as starch, soap, and matches. For every one dollar spent in orange stamps, fifty cents of blue stamps were given back. These stamps would buy the surplus foods such as flour, eggs, cornmeal, and other healthy foods. The program ended in 1943 as World War 2 came to an end, boosting the economy, leaving less in poverty. In 1961, John F Kennedy re-introduced the Food Stamp Program. This program required participants to still purchase food stamps, but eliminated the special food stamps that were needed to buy the extra items, similar to how the program works in the modern day. Today, research shows that 9.25% of food stamps are spent on soft drinks alone. The recipients of food stamps are using them for the wrong purpose.
Blue stamps could be used to buy commodity foods, listed in excess supply, and dry beans, flour, corn meal, eggs and fresh vegetables ("The History of SNAP"). The program lasted 4 years, ending in 1943, due to World War II and an economic boom decreasing the number of people living in poverty. The program started again, in 1961, as a pilot program in several states at the behest of President John F. Kennedy. It was not until 1964, with the passage of The Food Stamp Act by President Johnson, that the Food Stamp Program became a national program again ("The History of SNAP"). Feeding the poor was not the only goal of the program, as the program was also used to make “more effective use of agricultural production” and to “strengthen the agricultural economy” ("The History of SNAP"). Thirteen years later, in 1977, major revisions were made the Food Stamp Program. Some of the revisions were “the elimination of the requirement that participants purchase the stamps; the establishment of uniform national standards of eligibility; the expansion of the program to minority communities; more federal support for the implementation of the program at the state level; and restricted access to benefits for students enrolled
President Obama once said, “As the wealthiest nation on Earth, I believe the United States has a moral obligation to lead the fight against hunger and malnutrition, and to partner with others.” Food insecurity has always been an issue of the public as well as around the world. For so long, many generations of Americans have been living in poverty or in a low income state. It would be surprise as to how many Americans are living in poverty. As a result of this living situation, there are problems that arise with it. One of the problems is food insecurity. Food insecurity can be simply explained as not having access to affordable and quality food. This problem can lead to serious
The Food Stamp Act of 1964 was first enacted to help alleviate the issue of surplus farm commodities and help poor or unemployed families. However, over the years the focus of the program has shifted to provide low-income families, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities an affordable and adequate diet.
Food Stamp is a government-funded program in the United States. This is a program that helps people buy food for their families; in other words, it is a very important program to families living in poverty. It is the nation’s most important program in the fight against hunger. This program was developed in the 1960’s; it is made to improve the nutrition level and food purchasing power of people with low-income. This program is offered to people who cannot afford to buy groceries for their families, regardless of age, color, sex or religion. Food Stamps can only be used to buy food items not hygiene or household items, and it’s offered only on a monthly basis.
Food stamp organizations help a variety of people from the disabled, single mothers, children and to those who cannot find—or are unable to—work. There are many out there who for some reason are unable to obtain necessary food, and without these programs, these people wouldn’t be able to survive in the money hungry world. Though these programs are put in place to ensure that people are being properly fed, there are people out there that think people use it only to abuse it. Single mothers are just one of the groups that gets a lot of harassment and are looked down upon. These individual’s are looked down upon due to the stereotypes and the overwhelming concern of them ruining the system due to a few. According to Poverty and the Homeless they said only 9 percent of single mothers stayed in there programs for more than seven years and less than 10 percent stayed more than eight years, also saying that most of them were young single mothers with children under the age of three (Williams). Single mothers are not the reason that the economy is going under, people just need an escape goat to blame so they don’t see their own ignorance. Mothers shouldn’t be wrongly accused for needing food stamps, because they could need them for a number of reasons. There are mothers out there that have been divorced and the husbands don’t pay child support. An article online talked about how this mother had recently separated from her husband and she was on food stamps. Her children didn’t know because she didn’t want to burden them with any more than they already had. She said, “I sold everything that wasn’t tied down. I eventually found three part-time jobs that would allow me to be with my sons when they got home from school, trying to keep their lives as structured and normal as possible — plus saving me $100+ a week in childcare, which is substantial when you make
Sure, people want to survive, but people also want objects. These objects, such as the newest iPhone, gaming systems, workout gear, cars and much more, have one thing in common; they cost money. In order to buy these materialistic goods, one must first obtain the money for them by working a job. This is what keeps the economy running. Now, when one doesn’t have enough money for the simplest of goods, such as food and electricity, they can apply to the government for assistance. In the short term, there is nothing wrong with this, however, many people take advantage of these programs for the long run. According to Rector and Bradley, half of the aid given by food stamps go to families who have already reaped the benefits of assistance for eight and a half years or more. That’s almost twelve percent of a lifetime for many people. It’s highly unlikely that over those eight and a half years there have been absolutely no job openings available to those people which only leave one explanation. These people who live their life depending on food stamps and other government assistance programs eventually lose motivation to contribute to the workforce because money is automatically thrown at them by the
Food plays a role in our health, economy, and culture and is a critical part of a sustainable community, yet not all of us have the privilege of accessing to it. Furthermore, I believe that not much people think about food access since there are many services provided by the government, such as food stamps that allow low-income citizens to feed their families. However, not all members in our community have the access to food stamps, like the people without stable houses, known as the homeless people and they are a part of our community as well. Many homeless people eligible for food stamps do not receive them.
And, because food now comes at a low cost, it has become cheaper in quality and therefore potentially dangerous to the consumer’s health. These problems surrounding the ethics and the procedures of the instantaneous food system are left unchanged due to the obliviousness of the consumers and the dollar signs in the eyes of the government and big business. The problem begins with the mistreatment and exploitation of farmers. Farmers are essentially the backbone of the entire food system. Large-scale family farms account for 10% of all farms, but 75% of overall food production (CSS statistics).
The government must have a say in our diets. Because the issues of obesity have already reached national scales, because the costs of obesity and related health issues have gone far beyond reasonable limits, and because fighting nutritional issues is impossible without fighting poverty and other social issues, the government should control the range and the amount of available foods. The cost of healthier foods should decrease. The access to harmful foods should be limited. In this way, the government will be able to initiate a major shift in nutritional behaviors and attitudes in society.