Food Stamps to SNAP

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Food Stamp is a government-funded program in the United States. This is a program that helps people buy food for their families; in other words, it is a very important program to families living in poverty. It is the nation’s most important program in the fight against hunger. This program was developed in the 1960’s; it is made to improve the nutrition level and food purchasing power of people with low-income. This program is offered to people who cannot afford to buy groceries for their families, regardless of age, color, sex or religion. Food Stamps can only be used to buy food items not hygiene or household items, and it’s offered only on a monthly basis. Today SNAP is the new name of the federal Food Stamp Program. “SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The name was changed to SNAP to meet the needs of clients, which includes a focus on nutrition and an increase in the amount of benefit received” ("supplemental nutrition,"2011). Another detail about SNAP is its ability to respond to changing needs caused by economic cycles or natural emergencies on the local, state and national levels. It is second to unemployment insurance in its responsiveness to economic changes. SNAP is very helpful to low-income families’ monthly resources, increasing the chance families is able to meet basic needs. Needs and Goals According to Dolgoff and Feldstein (2003), “the needs and goals of the Food Stamp Program are to alleviate hunger and malnutrition by enabling low-income households to buy a nutritious adequate diet” (p. 132). The program also improved the market for local merchants to produce food for eligible low-income households and other agencies such as the School Lunch Program which safeguard the health and wel... ... middle of paper ... ...p://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/applicant_recipients/eligibility.htm Dolgoff, R. & Feldstein, D. (2003). Understanding social welfare (7th ed). New York, Allen & Bacon Department of health & human services. Retrieved from http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/DHHS/FOODSTAMPS/default.htm Landers, P. S. (2007). The food stamp program: History, nutrition, education, and impact. American Dietetic Association. 107(11) 1945-1951. doi: 10’1016/j.jada.2007.08.009 DiNitto, D. (2010). Social welfare politics and public policy. Boston,MA: Pearson education. National Association of Social Workers (2008). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved January 31, 2010, from http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/Code/code.asp Florida food stamp program. Retrieve from http://www.govbenefits.gov/govbenefits_en.portal?_nfpb=true&quic...

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