Despite huge agricultural surpluses in the United States, food insecurity remains a massive and constant problem for millions of low-wage households. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, has a basic goal of providing help to those households in attempt to fight growing food insecurity. Flaws in the food stamp system make that goal much more challenging to reach. These flaws have caused many applicants to be deemed ineligible for aid for little to no reason. Immigrants, disabled people, and people without access to basic information on their potential benefits are particularly affected by these problems. The result is a much larger number of food insecure households, despite the plentiful food available through
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The process of applying for food stamps is extremely complex and at times the welfare officers are unequipped to provide sufficient information to applicants. This discourages many potential applicants, especially immigrants and others that do not have access to certain required documents. In the article titled, “How to Get Food Stamps,” the author gives a very detailed explanation of the process that each applicant must go through in order to be eligible for food stamps. The applicant must first fall under certain categories. Applicants must either earn low wages, work part time, be unemployed, disabled, or homeless. Residents of federally funded housing for the elderly or of small group homes are also eligible for food stamps. There is a specific income that the applicant must be under to qualify, but that income varies depending on the area that he or she lives in. To access food stamps, applicants must go to the local food stamp office. They then submit an application containing multiple …show more content…
The article titled “Texas replaces food stamps with food cards,” the author talks about a change that the state government made to the food stamp program in 1995. Instead of using paper food stamps, the program started using debit card-like cards. This stopped recipients from being able to trade stamps for other things that SNAP did not regulate or approve, such as black market goods and cash. This was one of the biggest problems with food stamps. Many food stamp recipients were using them to buy illegal goods, which limited their ability to get food for their families. The food cards can only be used in large grocery stores to minimize fraud. This also allows the program to regulate what food and goods people can and cannot buy with the card. In the Houston and Dallas areas, purchases from food cards rose by $10 million in the first month that the cards were used, which boosted the economy by allowing the grocery stores to hire more baggers and clerks (Texas). It’s also possible that purchases increased because food stamp recipients were no longer embarrassed to use their services at the grocery store. The food card looked like normal credit or debit cards, so recipients could pay for the food without feeling ashamed. Texas provides good evidence that the food stamp program can be improved on without compromising the efficiency of the
The process of applying for food stamps is extremely complex and at times the welfare officers are unequipped to provide sufficient information to applicants. This discourages many potential applicants, especially immigrants and others that do not have access to certain required documents. In the article titled, “How to Get Food Stamps,” the author gives a very detailed explanation of the process that each applicant must go through in order to be eligible for food stamps. The applicant must first fall under certain categories. Applicants must either earn low wages, work part time, be unemployed, disabled, or homeless. Residents of federally funded housing for the elderly or of small group homes are also eligible for food stamps. There is a specific income that the applicant must be under to qualify, but that income varies depending on the area that he or she lives in. To access food stamps, applicants must go to the local food stamp office. They then submit an application containing multiple …show more content…
The article titled “Texas replaces food stamps with food cards,” the author talks about a change that the state government made to the food stamp program in 1995. Instead of using paper food stamps, the program started using debit card-like cards. This stopped recipients from being able to trade stamps for other things that SNAP did not regulate or approve, such as black market goods and cash. This was one of the biggest problems with food stamps. Many food stamp recipients were using them to buy illegal goods, which limited their ability to get food for their families. The food cards can only be used in large grocery stores to minimize fraud. This also allows the program to regulate what food and goods people can and cannot buy with the card. In the Houston and Dallas areas, purchases from food cards rose by $10 million in the first month that the cards were used, which boosted the economy by allowing the grocery stores to hire more baggers and clerks (Texas). It’s also possible that purchases increased because food stamp recipients were no longer embarrassed to use their services at the grocery store. The food card looked like normal credit or debit cards, so recipients could pay for the food without feeling ashamed. Texas provides good evidence that the food stamp program can be improved on without compromising the efficiency of the