Massive Change Made To Food Stamps That’s
Already Affected 2.8Mil
Food stamp usage in the U.S. has seen a significant
decrease under President Donald Trump’s
leadership.
That equates to a 7.8% reduction since President
Trump’s election and more than 2.8 million
people dropping off the program altogether
since President Trump’s first full month
in the White House in February 2017.
This is the fastest such drop in American
dependence on state sustenance ever since
the food stamp program’s inception, according
to the latest numbers from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA).
Currently, there are around 39 million people
relying on the food stamp program which historically
is the fewest amount of Americans to rely
on government sustenance handouts since February
2010.
This is fantastic news…unless of course,
you happen to be Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY-D)
or Rep. Nancy Pelosi (CA-D).
According to Breitbart –
“The latest USDA data shows that since Trump
served his first full month in office in February
2017—when food stamp enrollment was at 42,134,301—
participation in the federal government’s
food stamp program decreased by 2,804,945
to 39,329,356.
During Trump’s first year and a half as
president, many people discontinued their
SNAP benefits due to the Trump administration’s
attempts to reform SNAP at both the federal
and state levels of government.
Trump released an executive order on welfare
reform in April that would require the USDA
to issue updated rules for those receiving
benefits such as food stamps, and invest in
workforce development programs.
The USDA also hired an “integrity officer”
in March to bolster the administration’s
efforts to prevent SNAP fraud, and announced
in February the rollout of its “Harvest
Box” program to give food stamp recipients
a box of shelf-stable food as part of their
monthly benefits package.
The continued decline in the number of individuals
enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP)—the federal government program
in charge of administering food stamps—during
Trump’s year and a half as president is
consistent with the downward trend in SNAP
enrollment since 2013.
In 2013, when the Obama administration was
in power, enrollment in the program reached
its highest levels in the nation’s history.
After 2013, SNAP enrollment declined when
state legislatures passed laws requiring food
stamp recipients to work, attend school, volunteer,
or participate in job training for a set number
of hours per week to receive benefits.
The improving economy also contributed to
the continuing decline in food stamp usage.”
And according to the Independent Journal Review,
the burgeoning economy under Trump is causing
the major change to food stamp enrollment.
“The number of Americans dependent on the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) dropped by 2.8 million users as President
Donald Trump’s economy continues to grow.
SNAP has been on a downward trend for a few
years, but membership has declined significantly
since the president’s first full month in
office.
Most of the decline in SNAP participation
is believed to be from U.S. economic growth.
President Trump’s administration has seen
record job numbers and low unemployment, greatly
reducing American dependence on government
programs like SNAP.
Although much of the SNAP reduction is believed
to be from economic growth, there have also
been many proposed changes to the program
itself that may have encouraged users to find
an alternative.
On the state level, several states already
implemented work requirements for food stamps
and saw participation levels drop rapidly.”
This dramatic decline in food stamp usage
comes as the Trump administration implements
a variety of changes to the program, which
as Dan Calabrese notes recently are genius
insofar as you are not supposed to like being
on welfare nor is it supposed to be a career
goal!
It is speculated that enrollment in the nation’s
food stamp program might plunge even further
if work requirements are included in the latest
Farm Bill going through Congress.
President Trump tweeted his intentions regarding
food stamps – “When the House and Senate
meet on the very important Farm Bill – we
love our farmers – hopefully they will be
able to leave the WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR FOOD
STAMPS PROVISION that the House approved.
Senate should go to 51 votes!”
The House recently passed a version of the
bill in June.
This version of the bill included a provision
requiring able-bodied adults without dependents
between the ages 18 to 59 work, enroll in
job training, or look for work under the supervision
of a case manager in order to receive food
stamps.
The Senate version of the bill did not include
the work requirement provision.
Adding further to that is President Trump’s
Harvest Box proposal.
A Harvest Box is a package box of nutritious,
100% U.S. grown and produced food.
According to the USDA – “Under the USDA
America’s Harvest Box proposal, all Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participating
households receiving $90 per month or more
in benefits will receive a package of nutritious,
100-percent U.S. grown and produced food.
Approximately 16.4 million households or about
81 percent of SNAP households would be impacted
by this proposal.
The amount of food received per household
would be scaled to the overall size of the
household’s SNAP allotment, ultimately representing
about half of their benefits.
SNAP participants would receive domestically-sourced
and produced food in lieu of a portion of
their SNAP benefits.
USDA would utilize a model similar to that
currently used to distribute USDA Foods to
other nutrition assistance programs to provide
staple, shelf-stable foods (such as shelf-stable
milk, juice, grains, ready-eat cereals, pasta,
peanut butter, beans, canned meat, poultry
or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables)
to SNAP households at approximately half the
retail cost.
This proposal creates a new approach to nutrition
assistance that combines retail-based SNAP
benefits with the delivery of USDA America’s
Harvest Boxes supporting the President’s
leadership on Buy American.
This proposal is cost-effective, enhances
the integrity of SNAP, and provides for states’
flexibility in the administration of the program.
The remainder of the household’s benefits
will still be provided via the current Electronic
Benefit Transfer card.”
As Zero Hedge reports –
“The Department of Agriculture estimates
the change would save taxpayers $129 billion
over 10 years by switching to defined packages
that would presumably have a predictable,
consistent cost.
I’m guessing it would actually save a lot
more than that precisely because people would
hate being restricted to the Harvest Boxes,
and at least a significant percentage of them
would respond to the added incentive to improve
their situations.
And of course, I’m sure part of the idea
here is that people can’t trade or sell
their food stamps or find some clever way
to use them to get booze, cigarettes, drugs,
etc.
Yes, the government would be picking out your
food for you.
Yes, that would be frustrating and no fun.
The point of food stamps is not to treat you
to gourmet meals.
It’s to prevent you from starving to d***h
while you get out of the trouble you’ve
gotten yourself in, whether that takes the
form of unemployment, underemployment or some
other type of financial mess.
We want you to have food.
We want you to live.
But if you want the kind of food you prefer,
that’s going to require 
you to earn your own money and buy it.”
