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Food Stamp Program Essay

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Food stamps are government provided subsidy vouchers or coupons utilized to purchase nutritionally adequate food. These vouchers are provided to low-income individuals and households as a supplement to their income to assist them with affording these purchases. The federal government aids and pays for the Food Stamp Program currently known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Managed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the state welfare offices, SNAP is one of the major offered nutrition assistance programs available. The Food Stamp Program (FSP) was developed and initiated in 1939 by Secretary of Agriculture, Henry Wallace. The FSP was initially developed to address the access food surplus after the economic conditions of the Great Depression. “It was first implemented in …show more content…

However, the recipients were still required to purchase the food stamps as they did under the Food Stamp Program. The recipients were now allowed to make purchases at approved grocery stores so they were not as limited in regards to their purchase options. Under this act, the federal government covered the cost for the benefits, while the USDA managed the benefits and the local state welfare agencies distributed the benefits directly to the eligible recipients. According to the USDA, “this act appropriated $75 million dollars for the 1965 fiscal year, $100 million dollars for the 1966 fiscal year and $200 million dollars for the 1967 fiscal year.” This act specified that only households that are deemed eligible by their income guidelines were allowed to receive the food stamp benefits. These income guidelines were not established to a specific amount but rather that the household demonstrated a need to obtain nutritious food due to a

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