0 Decisions You’ll Make
the number-one reason military recruits had failed their physicals dur-
ing World War II. The military’s advocacy proved pivotal in launching
the National School Lunch Program.
Wholesalers and retailers convinced Congress to funnel more
business their way. The Food Stamp Act was the result, designed to
tie surplus farm products to additional retail purchases. Eventually,
electronic benefits (think: debit cards) replaced food stamps, and the
program was rebranded as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP).
In recent decades, the moral questions asked earlier have not centered
on why food production continues to be subsidized, or why excess food
should be shared, but whether or not recipients of food assistance are
truly in need. While there are fifteen separate food-assistance pro-
grams, SNAP receives the lion’s share of funding, criticism, and zeal for
reform—and both political parties have acted to limit eligibility.
For the record, SNAP enrollment climbs when the economy falters,
and falls when the economy recovers. Ninety-two percent of SNAP
benefits go to households below the poverty line. Nearly 90 percent of
recipients are in households that include a child under age eighteen,
an elderly person sixty years or older, or a member with disabilities.
Children younger than eighteen make up 44 percent of all recipients.
The benefit per meal—$.40—is calculated from USDA’s definition of
a bare-bones, nutritionally adequate diet.
Traditionally, Americans’ number-one volunteer activity is chari-
table food assistance. Americans help at soup kitchens, work in food
banks, support food drives, and donate time, money, and effort to food
relief causes. Whether it be a meal delivered to a home when a loved one
passes away, or a welcome invitation to break bread with another, food
reinforces a common bond with humanity, a reminder of vulnerability, a
recognition of how we depend on other living beings for nourishment.
The sharing of food is part of what defines America.
So why have food-aid programs like SNAP become so acrimoni-
ous? When help is abused, those doing the giving can feel burned and
their resentment can be long-lasting. Any wrongdoing becomes fod-
der for agendas that oppose public aid. Reports of hucksters exploiting
public assistance and living a life of slothfulness are perceived as the
embodiment of a broken system financed on the backs of hard-working