Food Stamps

What does S.N.A.P stand for? SNAP is an acronym for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps. This program started over eighty years ago. Through several congressional acts we have a fully functioning program that assist low income families across the United States, with each state having its own version of the program. There are a wide variety of people that can apply for this program including struggling college students. Through the years this program has been abused.

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.”

Who is eligible for this program? Food Stamps are for “individuals who work for low wages, the elderly or disabled and have small income ...” (Cornell). Most do not realize this, but the students working their way through school and living away from home are eligible. The qualifications of the individual or family wanting to get into the program dictates how much they would receive. Some of the basic eligibility req...

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It has been a long time since the first official program has begun in 1939. It has helped millions of people. However it does have several flaws in the system. The system is changing to be more electronic and decreasing fraud. Even though from the report from the Governmental Accountability Organization shows the program to be ineffective, there are people out there that truly have been helped by the program. The work requirements seem like an easy fix, it would weed a lot of frauds out of the system. When the government is just handing out these benefits with simple requirements people are going to take advantage of it and in turn become dependent on it. The problems with program are fixable but from the information on the Food and Nutrition government website basically says they do not want to put the work in to solve some of these issues raised in this essay.