Mission
For poor families that cannot afford to feed the themselves, SNAP offers free food stamps to help them. Their goal is to stop malnutrition for underprivileged people in America.
How It Started
Various people worked on the program but the most notable individuals were the Secretary of State, Henry Wallace, and the program’s first administrator, Milo Perkins in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
The first campaign was unsuccessful, so another program, under the same name, was started in the 1960s under president J. F. Kennedy. These modern food stamps are still used today.
This program was also a result of Marian Wright Edelman's hard work.
The first campaign was unsuccessful, so another program, under the same name, was started in the 1960s under president J. F. Kennedy. These modern food stamps are still used today.
This program was also a result of Marian Wright Edelman's hard work.
'We got a picture of a gorge, with farm surpluses on one cliff and under-nourished city folks with outstretched hands on the other. We set out to find a practical way to build a bridge across that chasm.' –Perkins
Controversial
The food stamps program is very controversial in America because some people accuse it of causing obesity and laziness. This is because unhealthy food is cheaper and more readily available at supermarkets in poor neighborhoods, so people with food stamps buy this instead of the more expensive but healthier choices. Also it can make people lose incentive to work and get a job because they know that they will get taken care of and won't starve even if they don't work at all. Despite this, the food stamp program is widely popular among less privileged people and politicians. 50 billion U.S. dollars are spent on the SNAP program every year, all taken from taxpayers.