Let’s Talk About Food Stamps

Food Stamps (now known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) began in 1939 but many Americans still don’t know much about how it really operates. SNAP assists a wide range of people that are in need of food.

9.5 million families with children are on SNAP, making it the biggest program fighting against hunger in America. 

SNAP is a temporary service to help individuals rise about the poverty line and care for themselves and their families. Without it families would be unable to feed their families, leaving children to starve. It is for families that have children, but also senior citizens and families with disabilities. 

You can only use SNAP to buy food such as bread, vegetables and fruits but no vitamins or any type of medicine. Any alcohol or tobacco products cannot be bought with SNAP.

A common misconception about food stamps is that they are literal physical pieces of paper. They have been switched over to a card system such as debit or credit cards.  

Food banks cannot ask for verification from the families and have honestly moved away from working directly with food stamps. However, they still work with the families just not as direct as before. 

“We service eight counties. So we have a far outreach in the community to help those people in need,” Carol Crabtree, HR director at the Akron Canton Food Bank. “Some of our clients are people who have fell, simply hard on times, maybe they got laid off, or they lost their job for whatever reason, and now they’re faced with, how do I pay my bills and how do I eat and you know, that that’s where we come in that we provide food for them and their families. And it is people who have fallen on hard times, for whatever reason.”

While the food banks may not work directly with SNAP, the Haymaker Farmer’s Market does. 

They provide one dollar chips to the families depending on the amount of money they have. Since the beginning of the pandemic, they have been busier than ever.

“We will double people’s net benefits at the market, up to $25 each. So, if they use $25 off their part,” Andrew Rome, market manager. “We’ll give that to them in those wooden tokens, and then we’ll give them additional tokens that they can spend on fresh fruits and vegetables at the market. So, that’s a way that we try to make the products at the market more affordable because we know people who are using stuff benefits are price conscious and prices at the market are not the cheapest. Then, we’re able to make it affordable for everyone.”

With the exchanging happening at the farmers market, people are able to buy the fresh produce there along with not spending their SNAP money. 

While being on food stamps most families work with food banks and pantries to provide extra food because most of the time, the food stamps aren’t enough.

Growing Up on Food Stamps: The Stigma

Jamie (pseudonym for privacy purposes) reflected via email on the 10+ years that her family of 10 spent using food stamps.

“Our meals weren’t properly balanced so we weren’t getting the nutrients we should have been,” said Jamie. “Junk food was cheaper, more convenient and easier to feed all of us kids. Fresh fruits and vegetables were at a higher cost.”

She said that it wasn’t efficient enough to use the food stamp money for fresh fruits and vegetables because then it wouldn’t last the whole month. When they went grocery shopping, they bought a lot of frozen dinners, canned food and boxed food. The fresh foods they could afford to get were grapes, apples and celery. 

One of the things that affected Jamie about living on food stamps was the stigma surrounding it.

“Other people see people on food stamps as lazy or taking advantage of welfare,” she said. “My mom used to always complain about how she felt uncomfortable swiping her card or giving the paper form to the clerk because she felt judged or treated differently. Or the cashier would get frustrated because it was extra steps to their work routine.”

She says that she understands why some people have negative feelings about food stamp recipients because “It’s supposed to be used temporarily for getting back on your feet but some people use it for prolonged periods or abuse the system.”

Everyone that uses SNAP is going through something different. The stigma that food stamp recipients are lazy or “mooching off the government” is detrimental to this necessary program because it leads to attempts to roll back on these benefits for the people that need them.

Rising a child on WIC

Leah Barto was forced to use WIC, women, infants and children, because her work did not offer paid leave for the six weeks after having her child. She was on it until her child was around two years old because after that it was not worth it to her. 

As she only got 25 dollars a month to feed her child and herself.

“So it’s like a really weird and strict program. So the amount of formula that you can get isn’t actually enough to feed a kid for the whole month. Even if you have that, chances are, you’re still going to need something else to supplement it, especially if you’re like, you’re only using a formula because it like limits the number of like cans and stuff you can get,” Barto said. 

She was grateful for having money set aside to support herself and her child as she did not qualify for SNAP. 

SNAP, food stamps and WIC are important because they support the families in need. Even though SNAP definitely helps, it is not the end of hunger. WIC is not the end of hunger in women and children. But it can be a stepping stone into escaping poverty. However, people need help from the community, such as food banks and farmer’s markets. 

With 9.5 million families depending on SNAP and their local communities, the issue of food insecurity probably lies more in society than on the individual families.

This article was written by Ryanne Locker and Sylvia Lorson.

Let’s talk about food stamps https://t.co/DOUEeU6IrW

— Ry-anne? (@ryalocker) October 28, 2020

Check out my team article about food stamps https://t.co/OBAHhLcWJM

— sylvia? (@sylviplorson) October 28, 2020