The Hidden Soup Line, Food Stamps and Why They Fail

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

We rarely see these lines anymore because America brings
the soup kitchen to your doorstep.  Image Source:BlogCritics.org by J.M. Harrison.

The Great Depression was easy to accept, why?  Because the lines were clear to see, today they are hidden from view.  As Republicans and Democrats square off over what to cut, the 47 year old food stamp program finds itself in peril and for good reason.


The Wall Street Journal reported last May that a shocking 1 in 7 Americans were claiming food stamp benefits.  In states like Oregon and Mississippi the numbers were an abysmal 1 in 5 while states like Wyoming featured only 6% of their citizens relying on government assistance.  If 1 in 7 Americans are struggling to eat why isn't this alarming and obvious to mainstream America?  

This is an example of the new and improved EBT system.
No more lines, no more hassle; benefits streamlined!
Image Source: eHow.com by Joe Raedle at Getty Images. 

          Well, Instead of waiting outside in front of God and country for hours and in long lines Americans have, since 1939, grown used to the idea of receiving assistance in bulk once a month versus having to gather two or three times a day out in front of a local charity, church, or government soup kitchen.  With the advent of the food stamp program in 1964 the local grocery store or any participating venue could become a charity (without being charitable) and charge for food, tax free.  Today, however, the dollar denominated paper stamps have given way to modern times and are now distributed via government issued debit card.  


          Today "poor" Americans, those within 130% of the poverty level (currently $22,350 for a family of 4), are eligible to receive electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards in the mail and are loaded automatically.  There is no need to walk down to the local family or health services office - no lines, no hassle, no stigma, but importantly little effort.  Hence, out of sight is out of mind, at least when it comes to most Americans and realizing that our nation is suffering from a growing dependency on government assistance.  


          The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for administering the food stamp program now officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and on top of the staggering number of dependents, the cost of the program has metastasized.  Traditionally over budget, inelastic to demand (requiring Congress to approve budget increases every year) and now accounting for 67% of the USDA's budget (up from just 27% in 1980) the program, regardless of constant adjustments, reorganization and new snappy names, is a demonstrable failure.


          There is no doubt SNAP relieves those struggling to eat, but don't you every wonder how Americans ever made it this far without food stamps?  The program wasn't there during our greatest time of need, the Great Depression, so how did we make it this far?  If the story of Leroy Fick, a millionaire still receiving food stamps, has anything to offer it is that there is a massive disconnect between the federal government and the people in need.


Revolutionary solutions require operating within new revolutionary paradigms.


          While the Food Action Research Center and Moody's Analytics contend that food stamps are the most effective forms of economic stimulus, credited for increasing economic activity by $1.73 for every dollar spent, questions still abound.  Is the USDA, an agency envisaged to regulate US agricultural production, meant to stimulate the economy?  Is it more important to feed a man or teach him how to feed himself?  Can the states, churches, charities, NGOs, and individuals do a better (a more cost effective, responsive and responsible) job at feeding the needy?

Created in 2003 with 3 gardens and a pamphlet Urban Farming
has created over 43,000 ways of teaching modern America
how to feed themselves once again.

          Urban agriculture evidently has been around since the Maya and can even be traced back to ancient Persia, but as they say new news is old news.  Organizations like Urban Farming are rediscovering and reconnecting with a skill set that was available to everyone in the pre-modern world, the ability to grow your own food.  With the rise of the modernity and its commensurate cities, supermarkets, restaurants, and assistance programs we lost this old art, but Urban Farming is showing a new generation how even in the most urban of areas we can sustain ourselves.  Moreover, growing our own organic produce and understanding the nutritional and healing benefits of food can lower crime, increase civic association, job opportunities, but most importantly increase our health and longevity.  The government model and those who wish to perpetuate it only increase dependence, chances of obesity, and suboptimal health, which feeds our already difficult health care crisis. 


          The integration of rural and urban lifestyles may be a few years off (urban farming on Facebook for example only has 3,706 fans as of this post), however, given our current debt crisis, a massive impetus to shed archaic and inept systems of government charity and an opportunity to emancipate ourselves from the idea aid can only come from the federal dole cutting edge ideas can and will be given room to grow.  Imagine:

Greenhouses no longer need to be relegated to the countryside,
but can now be brought indoors and engineered to produce
far more than we ever dreamed.  Image Source: Ecofriend.com

Allowing scientists, engineers, farmers, and charities to work
together human ingenuity can achieve unknown possibilities.
Image Source: Sharkride.com