U.S. Food Stamp Program

A U.S. Food Stamp Program is a means-tested food assistance welfare program that is a U.S. welfare program.

• AKA: U.S. SNAP Program.
• Context:
  • In 2013, its average payout was approximately $278 per household.
  • In 2013, approximately 47.7 million individuals were enrolled in the program.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Canadian Low-Income Program.
  • U.S. Medicaid Program.
  • U.S. Unemployment Insurance Program.
• See: U.S. Minimum Wage Law.

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References

2013

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Nutrition_Assistance_Program
  • The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly and still popularly known as the Food Stamp program, provides financial assistance for purchasing food to low- and no-income people living in the U.S. It is an federal aid program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, though benefits are distributed by individual U.S. states. They can be used to purchase any prepackaged edible foods, regardless of nutritional value (e.g. soft drinks and confections). Hot foods (such as those found in a supermarket deli) are ineligible, as well as items in fast food restaurants and similar retail settings.

    For most of its history, the program used paper-denominated "stamps" or coupons – worth US$1 (brown), $5 (blue), and $10 (green) – bound into booklets of various denominations, to be torn out individually and used in single-use exchange. Because of their intrinsic value of 1:1 with actual money, the coupons were printed by the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Their rectangular shape resembled a US dollar bill (although about 1/2 the size), including intaglio printing on high-quality paper with watermarks.

    In the late 1990s, the Food Stamp program was revamped, with some states phasing out actual stamps in favor of a specialized debit card system known as Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), provided by private contractors. Many states merged the use of the EBT card for public welfare programs as well, such as cash assistance. The move was designed to save the government money by not printing the coupons, make benefits available immediately instead of forcing the recipient to wait for mailing or picking up the booklets in person, and reduce theft and diversion. The 2008 farm bill renamed the Food Stamp Program to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (as of October 2008), and replaced all references to "stamp" or "coupon" in federal law to "card" or "EBT."

    In the 2012 fiscal year, $74.6 billion in food assistance was distributed. Template:Asof, 47.7 million Americans were receiving on average $134.29 per month in food assistance. More than 15% of the U.S. population receive food assistance.

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