The latest move by President Trump to attack the poor hits an area that affect millions of people: food stamps. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been a sore spot for Republicans, who are frustrated with the increased enrollment numbers from the recession.
Two months ago Trump proposed a shift in the SNAP program so that about half of the monthly benefits would be delivered in the form of a food box containing items such as pasta, cereals, peanut butter, beans, canned meat, canned fruits and vegetables, and to drink, things like juice and powdered milk.
There are so many problems with this proposal. The first thing is that there are tens of millions of people who receive SNAP benefits and this plan is a cookie cutter method that assumes all the recipients are the same. It does not factor in that many SNAP recipients might need to specific foods because of medical issues that require strict dietary changes. There are other people whose diets may be totally different because of cultural or religious customs.
One of the things I find most disturbing about this proposal is that the GOP has always preached about families making better choices than the government. That argument usually is the centerpiece when they propose tax cuts so that people can spend their own money. There may be some logic to that argument, but why doesn’t the principle apply to those struggling to put food on the table?
One of the main purposes of this proposal — which is unlikely to become law and has been ignored by members of Congress — is to scare away recipients who are currently receiving benefits and to discourage eligible citizens from applying. During the recession, enrollment skyrocketed as people struggled to find work and many were only finding jobs with lower wages and fewer hours, which resulted in many people needing assistance to pay for food. The increased number of recipients increased the budget for SNAP and Republicans have been trying to come up with ways to reduce the amount spent. Proposals like this one and the work requirements and drug testing are maneuvers that are aimed to frighten recipients by imposing new hurdles in the hopes that people will become frustrated and give up.
If the concern was actually about the nutritional content about the SNAP purchases, there are much more logical and humane ways to address that issue without subjecting everyone to a standard assortment of food chosen by someone based on assumptions on what food is best for them. The effects on the retail food industry also are frightening. Walmart and other retailers such as Target, Aldi, and Kroger would suffer sales drops of billions over the next decade from the reduction in SNAP benefits to its consumers.
There are definitely better ways to get SNAP recipients more nutritious food than what you might find in a SNAP recipient’s shopping cart. One is to increase promotion and marketing of the programs that encourage use of benefits at farmers markets by doubling the value spent there. This allows the consumers to purchase fruits and vegetables and helps relieve skeptical politicians who feel that the tax dollars that fund the SNAP program are funding the purchase of unhealthy junk food.
Arthur Johnson is a columnist for Street Sense Media. Any questions or comments can be emailed to [email protected].
