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The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, is a federal aid program administered by the USDA that is up for renewal in the massive Farm Bill. Despite serving nearly one in seven Americans, SNAP is widely misunderstood, with countless myths mischaracterizing the program. We’ll help separate fact from fiction.<\/p>\n
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SNAP provides low-income individuals, senior citizens, and the disabled with financial assistance to purchase food. Due to its nature, SNAP acts not only to reduce hunger and improve nutrition, but also to alleviate poverty across the United States. In 2012, SNAP provided nearly $81 billion in food assistance to 46.7 million Americans.<\/p>\n
Over the past month, Congress has been working to re-authorize the farm bill, which funds and sets the country\u2019s food and agricultural policy every five years. Both the Senate and House had planned to make significant cuts to SNAP, which accounts for approximately 76 percent of the farm bill\u2019s budget. The Senate proposed and passed a bill, which would make cuts of $4.1 billion in SNAP funding over the next ten years,\u00a0meaning an estimated 500,000 families will lose $90 per month in benefits. The House failed to pass a bill that would make even more aggressive cuts, reducing SNAP funding by $20 billion over the next ten years, cuts that would impact almost 2 million people. But that is not the only debate surrounding the farm bill. Despite serving nearly one in seven Americans, SNAP is widely misunderstood with countless myths mischaracterizing the program.<\/p>\n
Myth 1: SNAP recipients are \u201cwelfare queens.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Reality 1: SNAP primarily provides assistance to the working poor. According to research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, four out of five SNAP beneficiaries are either working\u2014many of which are in the military\u2014 or individuals who cannot be expected to work, such as children, the elderly or the disabled.<\/p>\n Myth 2: SNAP is rife with fraud and abuse.<\/strong><\/p>\n Reality 2: SNAP is a well-run and efficient federal program.<\/p>\n Since the introduction of the Electric Benefit Transfer card (EBT), which is essentially a debit card to purchase food, fraud within the program has reached unprecedented lows. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), \u201ctrafficking,\u201d which involves selling SNAP benefits for cash, has gone from 3.8 cents per dollar to one cent per dollar over the last twenty years. Furthermore, SNAP is an efficient federal program. Approximately 92 percent of federal SNAP funding goes towards the beneficiaries. Only eight percent is spent on administrative costs, such as salaries, training and nutrition education.<\/p>\n