food stamps

Food stamps are vouchers or electronic benefit transfer cards that are part of the the US federal government program currently known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Their purpose is to help alleviate hunger in low and no-income American families, by supplementing their food budgets, while also providing a market for farm surpluses that would otherwise be considered a waste. This program is administered by the Food and Nutrition Service, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.

The first Food Stamp Act was issued in 1939, at the initiative of the US Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace, and it lasted until 1943, when food surpluses and widespread unemployment were no longer considered a national problem. 18 years later, in May 1961, a second food stamp program was enacted, and Mr. and Mrs. Alderson Muncy from West Virginia were the first family to purchase food using food stamps for their 15 member household. This initial transaction occurred at a local supermarket and consisted of pork and beans.

The year 1964 saw the provision of permanent legislative authority to the Food Stamp Program, providing $75 million to roughly 350,000 individuals in over 40 counties. In July 1974, the program began operating nationwide, with nearly 14 million participants. Food stamps saw further expansion during the second half of the 80s, as domestic hunger and unemployment were once again at the center of political and media attention. The most important changes consisted in an increase in the resource limit for most households to approximately $2000, the provision of nutrition education to affected families, as well as the inclusion of homeless individuals. By 1994, the number of participants in the Food Stamp Program had reached 28 million.

While nowadays, the program uses electronic cards, for the most part of its history, paper denominational coupons (or stamps) were in fact used. Their values recognizable by their color - brown coupons were worth $1, blue coupons were worth $5, and green coupons were worth $10. Food stamps can be used in most supermarkets to purchase any kind of take-out food, including cold sandwiches, and pre-packed goods, such as soft drinks and sweets. Baby formulas and foods from catering services supplying disabled individuals can also be purchased on food stamps, however they cannot be used to buy household maintenance products or other objects.

You'll find bloggers talking about food stamps at sites like oregon.gov and dss.louisiana.gov.

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Original Technorati articles tagged “food stamps”

• in Technorati Women
  American Children are Starving While Washington Debates 'Shared Sacrifice'
  Children are starving while American politicians debate whether social services can take more cuts.
  by odanu / on Jul 28, 2011
• in Lifestyle
  Food Stamps for Fast Food?
  Using food stamps in restaurants would be a blessing and a curse
  by charice22 / on Jun 10, 2011
• in Technorati Women
  Foster Kids Only Allowed to Get Clothing From Thrift Stores? A Poor Mom's Reaction
  Foster Kids = Used clothes?
  by mamasick / on Apr 27, 2011

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “food stamps”

 

• The Assault on Food Stamps Takes Legislative Form, and Jamie Dimon Profits!

  
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  Last March,  I wrote a post about the two-pronged assault on Food Stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP).  Now the legislation doing  just that is being shaped in Congress. The bad news is, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Debbie Stabenow, only wants ...
  1 week ago

• Food Stamps Could Become Healthier After Wisconsin Bill

  
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  Legislators in Wisconsin are pushing a bill forward that could set an interesting precedent for state food stamp programs. The bill would make it a requirement of those who use food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to spend a set amount of them on food deemed to have ...
  1 week ago

• More Than 1/3 Of Population Of Puerto Rico On Food Stamps

  
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  Can you say welfare state? Okay, I know, it’s a territory, but you get the idea. More than a third of the population of Puerto Rico is on food stamps paid for by Uncle Sam. Okay, I know there’s no Uncle Sam,  US taxpayers are footing the bill . According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the ...
  1 week ago

• Food-Stamp Use Rises From Year Ago

  
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  Food-stamp use rose 2.7% in the U.S. in February from a year earlier, with 15% of the U.S. population receiving benefits.
  1 week ago

• Farm bill sightings — AgMinute for May 10, 2013

  
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  Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said today that she plans to hold a mark up of a new farm bill in May, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., signaled that he intends to bring it to the Senate floor.
  1 week ago

• Best Mom’s Day Gift: Clean Diapers

  
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  A diaper-clad baby crawls across a 10-foot mat during a baby race in New York. The first prize was a years supply of diapers.Joanne Goldblum: Poor moms re-use diapers because they cant afford new onesFood stamps dont pay for disposables, sh... The post Best Mom’s Day Gift: Clean Diapers appeared first on ...
  1 week ago

• 2013 Farm Bill would Cut $20 Billion from Food Stamps

  
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  The Farm Bill currently under consideration in the House would cut $20 billion from the Food Stamp program in a plan endorsed by both the House Ag Committee chairman, Frank Lucas, and his Democratic counterpart Collin Peterson. On the program Agritalk, one of the largest farm talk shows in the country, Lucas said ...
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• Enormous $6.3 Trillion Cost of Immigration Amnesty

  
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  Not only will Senate Bill 744, called the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, add 33 million immigrants to the USA within the next 10 years, it will cost American taxpayers a mind-numbing $6.3 trillion.  That amount of money piles on top of our already crippling $16.5 trillion national debt.  When you consider 12 ...
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• Scrooge time again in D.C: Congress debates size of SNAP cuts

  
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  May 9, 2013: Next week, the agricultural committees in both the the House and the Senate will begin drafting their competing versions of the farm bill -- a $500 billion piece of legislation that was unable to pass in the last session of Congress, because it was an election year and the national emotion of "Thank A ...
  1 week ago

• Video Chart: Federal Food Stamp Spending Since 1950

  
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  1 week ago

• Shop accordingly

  
  dustbury.com — Authority: 611
  There are times I don’t want to be caught dead in a grocery store: when there’s a tornado watch, right before an OU football game, or right after the first of the month. To explain the latter: It’s not just food stamps. It’s social security and disability checks as well. I see it when I shop at Costco. ...
  1 week ago

• Did you know, poor people are Fat!!! “Small Government” Nanny State Republican Food Police to tell Adults what they can Eat.

  
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  The Republican message is clear: Junk food eating poor people are fat, lazy and too stupid. They should buy expensive food that would burn through the limited dollar amount of food stamps theyre given.  So much for freedom, small government and the Republican argument against liberal nanny state laws. They hate ...
  1 week ago

• The Real Cost of Amnesty

  
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  Despite disclaimers by the authors of the Heritage Foundation ’s latest report on the cost of amnesty to U.S. taxpayers that their estimates are probably too low, they fail altogether to mention the continuing loss of Continue reading The Real Cost of Amnesty
  1 week ago

• Marking the 4-Year Reflationary Rally: How Much Better Off Are We Really?

  
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  The U.S. stock market rally has recently passed its fourth anniversary after the terrifying lows of March 9, 2009. During that time, massive and unconventional reflationary policy from the Federal Reserve has managed to lift the S&P; 500 by nearly 70%. But perhaps even more improbably, it has finally (?) built a ...
  1 week ago

• Feed the hungry … dogs

  
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  Mention the idea of food stamps for dogs and you’re likely to get one of two reactions: Those touchy-feely animal lovers (such as me) will say it’s a great idea that could help keep dogs from being surrendered to shelters, abandoned, or worse, by owners who can’t afford to feed them anymore. Those ...
  1 week ago

• One meal at a time

  
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  During the Great Depression, everybody had to be watchful, and not wasteful, with their food. People could no longer afford to shop for their groceries weekly, and many had to stock up on items when they were on sale and make the most with what they had. Many people lived off of truck patches in their back yards, and ...
  1 week ago

• Markets rise on flawed data, ADP BLS Market Watch reports, Stated unemployment rate, Labor force participation rate, Part time work, Food stamps tell all

  
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  Markets rise on flawed data, ADP BLS Market Watch reports, Stated unemployment rate, Labor force participation rate, Part time work, Food stamps tell all “With a 63.7% labor force participation, “conditions in the labor market are considerably worse than indicated” in July’s report”… economist Joshua ...
  2 weeks ago

• States love food stamps

  
  Century Blog — Authority: 492
  Eli Saslows article last week on food-stamp recruitment is a fine piece of reporting. Its primarily a look at the delicate work of persuading hurting people to accept help. Pretty intimate stuff: read more
  2 weeks ago

• Show Notes 04/28/2013

  
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  Uncooperative Radio Show Notes: Sunday 04/28/2013 Gosnells Attorney: Ludicrous To Say a Baby is Born Alive Because It Moves One Time The defense attorney for late-term abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell, who is on trial for murdering babies who survived abortions, told a Philadelphia a court Thursday that it is ...
  2 weeks ago

• Shrinking farm bill — AgMinute for April 30, 2013

  
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  House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., told Capital Press on April 26 that he is planning a farm bill that will cut $38 billion in spending over 10 years, with $20 billion coming from the food stamps account and $18 billion from the rest of the bill.This podcast is sponsored by Western Innovators, ...
  2 weeks ago

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