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Trump Administration Proposes Replacing Food Assistance Program, Recipients to Receive Boxed Food



www.trendolizer.com

The Trump Administration is proposing a revamp of the nation’s current food stamp program. SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is designed to help low income families buy healthy food. SNAP benefits are given each month on a plastic card called EBT (electric benefits transfer) and works similar to a debit card. The program has strict guidelines on what can be purchased and does not allow items such as alcohol, household products, or pet food.

On Monday, the White House proposed a new plan that they say will save $17 billion by 2019. The USDA states the new plan could save more than $129 billion over the next decade. Recipients currently receiving more than $90 a month would receive half of their benefits in the form of a food box delivery program called, “America’s Harvest Box.” The government would provide recipients with non-perishable food items. Packages would include such items as shelf stable milk, ready to eat cereals, pasta, peanut butter, and canned fruits and vegetables. Fresh fruits and vegetables will not be included.

Many are seeing this as an attack on low income families. Jim Wells, President of the Food Research and Action Center stated, “It's going to stigmatize people when they have to go to certain places to pick up benefits." National WIC Association President, Douglass Greenway, expressed similar sentiments, "Removing choice from SNAP flies in the face of encouraging personal responsibility. The budget seems to assume that participating in SNAP is a character flaw."

Per Buzzfeed’s report, the USDA says states will have “substantial flexibility in designing the food box delivery system through existing infrastructure, partnerships or commercial/retail delivery services.” Advocates for the poor worry that the new program will take funding from SNAP and simply relocate it the administrative side of the program.

While the Trump Administration’s proposal is stirring controversy and reflection on how America should continue to handle domestic hunger, it would require approval from Congress before any changes are made to the current program.


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