Food on a Stamp

In the NY Times article “Food Stamp Use Soars, and Stigma Fades”, Jason DeParle highlights an important yet often forgotten issue ongoing in the US: poverty and the inability to afford necessities. In particular, the article focuses on food stamps and how they are saving thousands of family from utter starvation. DeParle uses personal examples of families in desperation and sprays out a multitude of statistics concerning the number of different people who depend on these tokens, in which a few really stand out:

- “The richest counties are often where aid is growing fastest. In 2007, Forsyth County, outside Atlanta, had the highest household income in the South. Food stamp use there has more than doubled”
- “Now nearly 12 percent of Americans receive aid — 28 percent of blacks, 15 percent of Latinos and 8 percent of whites”
- “Half of Americans receive food stamps, at least briefly, by the time they turn 20. Among black children, the figure was 90 percent”.

Thus, not only is food shortage an ongoing national problem but it clearly has affected certain races more than others, most notably African Americans. DeParle also raises the issue of how some people have abused these food stamps, despite being fairly well off in comparison to those in more dire situations. He alludes to a woman who dispute owning a Mercedes and a $300000 loan-free home, still qualified for the program. Furthermore, in order to promote the program, a change in its name also took place last year to “the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” in order to encourage people to feel less guilt over requesting help.

In my opinion, I feel that the food stamp program in the US is filled with flaws and a more resolute stance needs to be taken in order to alleviate it. Firstly, states like Ohio should not have ignored the value of cars and home when taking into account membership for the food stamps. Clearly, in the example DeParle uses, the woman could have sold her car in exchange for much needed necessities. For those who are still fairly well off, the obtainment of food tokens only discourages the incentive to work and to help out those worse off those in more critical circumstances. Secondly, I feel that the amount given to people who apply for food stamps should be adjusted based on their previous income such that those who had a higher salary earn stamps with less value than those who only had side jobs. I feel that this is necessary because even though both groups of people are jobless, those who had better jobs have more connections, and networking, to help, which is advantageous. I also think that the government needs to create a list of items which food stamps can only buy i.e. actual necessities such as water, fruits, vegetables and canned foods. Unnecessary produce such as soft drinks or candy should be banned, or a tax should be put on them such that they become so expensive less people will buy them.
Having read the following article, one can understand why not putting a ban on junk foods is unjust for those who don't even have access to food stamps:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/77852/food_stamps_supporting_bad_habits.html?cat=25

Finally, in my opinion, I feel that the government needs to put a time limit on how long a person may apply for the food stamp. This can come in the form where within a certain time period, the person needs to find a job otherwise, access to the tokens will be cut. Doing so motivates people to actively search for a job in comparison to just living off the food and merely hoping for something good to happen.
My entire life, I feel I have been extremely fortunate to be in the situation which I’m in now and so, reading this article made me feel sad and remorse. The US government needs to step up and apply firmer policies in regards to the use of food stamps. Only then can justice prevail and help arrive to those who really do need them.

Questions which I have regarding this reading include:

- How easy is it to lie about one’s personal circumstances and still be able to have access to the food stamps?
- Should families who have more children be given more food stamps than those who don’t have any?
- Is it likely that the government would soon impose higher taxes on those with disposable income to help fund this food program?