Public Assistance Programs for Food Insecurities

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DiNitto (2011) noted public assistance programs both cash and in kind, may not reduce national poverty rates dramatically, but they can substantially increase the quality of life of those who are poor. Has the American society effectively reduced food insecurities? With the reduction in hunger, is the society better off now than it was 5 years ago?
Supplemental Nutrition Program Assistance
According to DiNitto (2011), the most basic subsistence need the government meets is for food. The federal government’s main food program for low income individuals and families is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP is designed to reduce food insecurity and disrupted eating patterns in a household due to lack of money or other resources (FNS, 2013). SNAP replaced the food stamp program, the program utilizes the use of electronic benefit transfer which made paper coupons obsolete. The benefits cannot be used to buy material items such as soap, toilet paper or other personal hygiene items (DiNitto, 2011). The Food Stamp Act of 1964, was intended to help feed needy people at a time when hunger was one of the nation’s main dietary problems (Brownell & Ludwig, 2011). Based on recent research published by The United States Department of Agriculture, SNAP is associated with substantial improvements in food security (FNS, 2013).
Effects of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
In 2007, 13 million households the equivalent of 11.1 percent of the American population were food insecure. Food insecure means that at some time during the year, these families had difficulty providing enough food for all their family members due to lack of resources (Dinitto, 2011). In 2008, the maximum SNAP benefit for a family of four was $542 dol...

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... leaves the American Society better off than it was five years prior.

References
Blumenthal, S., Ludwig, D. & Willett, W. (2012, December). Opportunities to Reduce Childhood Hungry and Obesity. Journal of the American Medical Association, 308(24), 2567-2568. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from JAMA database.
Brownell, K. & Ludwig, D. (2001, September). The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Soda and USDA Policy, Who Benefits. Journal of American Medical Association, 306(12), 1370-1371. Retrieved March 16, 2014 from JAMA database.
DiNitto, D. (2011). Social Welfare Politics and Public Policy. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Food and Nutrition Service. (2013) Nutrition Assistance Program Report. Retrieved March 15, 2014 from http://www.fns.usda.gov
Food and Nutrition Service. (2014). Research and Evaluation Plan. Retrieved March 15, 2014 from http://www.fns.usda.gov

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