Food Stamps: An Important Government Transfer Program

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Food Stamps: An Important Government Transfer Program

Food Stamps are an important subsidy for poor families in the United States. The program began (in its most basic form) in the 1930s in response to the Great Depression and has seen many transformations since. Its original goal was to redistribute agricultural surpluses to needy individuals. It gained popularity in the early 1940s and in 1961, Congress launched a pilot program. The program became permanent under President Johnson's Food Stamp Act of 1964. At this time there were 1.4 million participants. By 1977 all states were required to provide Food Stamps to their underprivileged residents (Senauer). This plan eventually led to the arrangement in place today.

The Food Stamp Program is an in-kind government transfer. This means that the recipients are not directly given cash, rather they receive coupons (nowadays, a plastic card) that can only be exchanged for certain items. This guarantees that the money will be used solely on food. Numerous studies done by the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA have shown that giving people Food Stamps caused them to purchase a significantly larger amount of food than they would with a cash subsidy (Super). Food Stamps allow recipients to purchase food for human consumption and seeds and plants that will grow into food.

In some cases they can also be used to pay for meals prepared by authorized meal delivery services, rehabilitation centers, women's and homeless shelters, and communal dining facilities for the elderly. They cannot be used for the purchase of alcohol, vitamins, foods prepared in the store, or any other inedible item (FNS).

Eligibility is determined by a means test. A household's gross monthly income mu...

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...eloads Are Rising." November 2002 http://www.cbpp.org

Senauer, Ben. The Region. "America's Second Currency." March 1993. http://www.mpls.frb.org/pubs/region/93-03/reg933b.cfm

Super, David. "Background on the Food Stamp Program." 7/10/01. http://www.centeronbudget.org/7-10-01fs.htm

Zedlewski, Sheila and Amelia Gruber. "Former Welfare Families and the Food Stamp Program: The Exodus Continues." http://newfederalism.urban.org

Food and Nutrition Service Website. http://www.fns.usda.gov

PA Department of Public Welfare Website. http://www.dpw.state.pa.us/oim/oimfoodstamp.asp

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