In this paper we will explore the Farm Bill to understand the policy networks involved in the activity of this bill in the policy process. A brief timeline will be given and aid the discussion of the events that occurred regarding the recent bill and the actions of the official and unofficial actors involved. More specifically we will be looking at the the issue of the Federal Food Stamp Program which is an integral part of the Farm Bill. After exploring a general timeline of the bill, we will look at a brief history of the food stamp program. Then attention will be focused to the policy process regarding this bill as of recent from the beginning of 2013 to 2014. The Farm Bill is legislation that affects many different industries, but it’s purpose is to set policy regarding agriculture, nutrition, conservation and forestry (Committee Agriculture). About every five years, a bill regarding this same issue is passed by Congress (Committee Agriculture). In 1933, the Agricultural Adjustment Act was passed to deal with commodity surpluses that individuals could not afford during the Great Depression in rural America during the Franklin D Roosevelt presidency(Hagstrom). The Food Stamp Act was passed in 1964 under the The Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency (Hagstrom). By 1977, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program(SNAP), became part of the Farm Bill (Hagstrom). This is the history preceding the time period of the most recent Farm Bill, which has undergone the policy process to modernize the bill. The first Food Stamp Program operated for 4 years from 1939 to 1943(United States). It ended because the joint problem of unmarketable food surpluses and widespread unemployment no longer existed (United States).The first Food Stamp Ac... ... middle of paper ... ...amps&_r=1&>.(BillFraming) This article from the New York Times explores the effort the government to combat fraud in Farm Subsidies to farmers.It discusses the issue of Fraud within the Farm bill debate. One of the most important points this article makes is that the rate of fraud in farm insurance is more than the rate of fraud occurring under the food stamps program. The article also reveals that the resources to detect fraud are not enough, but this is still a main interest of legislators. It will allow them to cut back cost which is one of their goals. This article helps me to see one way that legislators are framing the Farm Bill debate. The article does not specify if it is a conservative or liberal view, this may be what all of congress wants. It does seem to be what is on the agenda of the senate and house. This issue is over by how much to cut the programs.
Kasperowicz , P., Wasson, E., & Berman, R. (2013, June 20). House rejects farm bill, 195-234 | TheHill. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/306857-house-rejects-farm-bill-that-cuts-restricts-food-stamp-program
There have been numerous debates within the last decade over what needs to be done about welfare and what is the best welfare reform plan. In the mid-1990s the TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Act was proposed under the Clinton administration. This plan was not received well since it had put a five year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and did not supply the necessary accommodations to help people in poverty follow this guideline. Under the impression that people could easily have found a job and worked their way out of poverty in five years, the plan was passed in 1996 and people in poverty were immediately forced to start looking for jobs. When the TANF Act was up for renewal earlier this year, the Bush administration carefully looked at what the TANF Act had done for the poverty stricken. Bush realized that, in his opinion, the plan had been successful and should stay in effect with some minor tweaking. Bush proposed a similar plan which kept the five year welfare restriction in place but did raise the budgeted amount of money to be placed towards childcare and food stamps. Both the TANF Act and Bush's revised bill have caused a huge controversy between liberal and conservative activists. The liberals feel that it is cruel to put people in a situation where they can no longer receive help from the government since so many people can not simply go out and get a job and work their way out of poverty. They feel if finding a job was that easy, most people would have already worked their way out of poverty. The conservatives feel that the plans, such as the TANF Act, are a surefire way to lower poverty levels and unemployment rates as well as decrease the amount o...
In the summer of 1996, Congress finally passed and the President signed the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996", transforming the nation's welfare system. The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act sets the stage for ongoing reconstruction of welfare systems on a state-by-state basis. The combined programs will increase from nearly $100 billion this year to $130 billion per year in 6 years. Programs included are for food stamps, SSI, child nutrition, foster care, the bloss grant program for child- care, and the new block grant to take the place of AFDC. All of those programs will seek $700 billion over the next 6 years, from the taxpayers of America. This program in its reformed mode will cost $55 billion less than it was assumed to cost if there were no changes and the entitlements were left alone. The current welfare system has failed the very families it was intended to serve. If the present welfare system was working so well we would not be here today.
The Web. The Web. 16 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/9551/Agricultural-Adjustment-Administration-AAA>. The "American President:.
Sheffield, Rachel, and T. Elliot Gaiser. "Food Stamps Don't Stimulate Economic Growth." The Foundry Conservative Policy News from the Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
According to the “Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet” on Feeding America’s website, in 2014 there were over 48 million Americans living in food insecure households, which included 32 million adults and 15 million children. For over 35 years, Feeding America continues to be in the forefront in solving this crisis by providing food to people in need through a nationwide network of food banks. In the late 1960s, Van Hengel established the nation’s first food bank and years later established the first national organization of food banks, Second Harvest. Second Harvest was later called America’s Second Harvest the Nation’s Food Bank Network and in 2008, the national organization changed its name to Feeding America.
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
The 1920’s were the singularly most influential years of farming in our country. The loss of farms following the war, and new agricultural practices resulted in the dawn of modern agriculture in our country. The shift from small family to big corporation during this time is now the basis for how our society deals with food today. Traditional farming in the 1920’s underwent a series of massive transitions following WWI as the number of farms decreased and the size of farms increased.
Disentangling the Short-Term And Long-Term Economic Effects Of Food Stamp Receipt And Low Income For Young Mothers." Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 38.4 (2011): 101-122. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 Apr. 2014.
The Affordable Care Act is projected to have a net cost of $1.2 trillion over the next ten years, even though we were told it would save money once implemented. The Agricultural Act of 2014, a/k/a the “Farm Bill,” was originally estimated to cost $956 billion over the next ten years [$756 billion dedicated to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps), which has nothing to do with farming], however, several news sources are already stating the Congressional Budget Office projections are too low. The list of programs continues to expand, both in size and scope, as we get further and further away from our founding principles. Our nation is becoming more and more liberal. Our government, more and more secular. The removal of our founding principles and Judeo-Christian values have permeated not just the government but most industries, especially entertainment and academia, and thereby have the ability to affect most public policy decisions. There are those who believe:
Lloyd Grieger, and Sheldon Danziger, investigated the food stamp program and discovered it started during the great depression, which took place during 1939-1943 in the United States. Food stamps were known as the SNAP program which benefited thousands of families living in poverty (1601-1614). At this time the program worked great for the thousands of Americans that did not know where their next meals was coming from, and even though most participants were jobless they could at least provide food for their
A. “Farm Policy.” CQ Researcher 10 Aug. 2012: 693-716. Web. The Web. The Web.
In 1919, farmers from thirty states, including Missouri, saw a need. They gathered in Chicago and formed the American Farm Bureau Federation. In 1919, they had one goal, they wanted to speak for themselves with the help of their own national organization. Since 1919, Farm Bureau has operated by a philosophy that states: “analyze the problem of farmers and develop a plan of action for these problems” (Missouri). In the past 94 years, the A...
According to Dolgoff and Feldstein (2003), “the needs and goals of the Food Stamp Program are to alleviate hunger and malnutrition by enabling low-income households to buy a nutritious adequate diet” (p. 132). The program also improved the market for local merchants to produce food for eligible low-income households and other agencies such as the School Lunch Program which safeguard the health and wel...
To really begin to understand this complex topic a person really needs to understand the basics of agricultural subsidizing. A subsidy is defined as a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public (Mish, 2003). More specifically, in the agricultural industry the government provides financial assistance to producers in the farm industry in order to prevent decline in production. The government does this by providing financial assistance to farmers and by managing the cost and supply of certain commodities. There a few reasons for this. One reason is to provide assistance to family sized farm owners who have trouble competing with commercial farms. This is supposed to maintain an efficient market balance. Another reason is to control the prices of commodities and keep the global food prices low. There are two main ways that payments are made. The payments may be made directly based on historical cropping patterns on a fixed number of acres. Or they can also be made depending on current market prices. Farmer’s may be guaranteed...