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Food Assistance Reforms: The Step Backwards
- 1. Food Assistance Reforms: The Step Backwards Solomiya Zahaiko Food Issue Position Project SSC 356 The Politics of Food
- 2. Food Assistance? • Federal programs that provide nutrition assistance to low-income families and individuals • They include: • SNAP, National School Lunch Program, WIC, etc. (“Food assistance programs,” n.d.)
- 3. • “The nation’s most important anti- hunger program” (“Policy Basics,” 2019) • Provided 40 million families with adequate nutrition • Kept 3.1 million people and 1.3 million children out of poverty SNAP (Fadulu, 2019a)
- 4. How it works Eligibility Being below 130% poverty line ($27,020 for a family of 3) Having assets below $2,250 or $3,500 for a household with an elderly or disabled member Limited eligibility for immigrants and childless individuals Benefits EBT card – grocery only Maximum monthly benefits: • $192 – household size of 1 • $642 – household size of 4 (“Policy Basics,” 2019)
- 5. • Tougher the access to SNAP and National School Lunch Program • Reduction in $4.5 billion in funding • Changing utility cost calculation • More strict work requirements • Reasons: • Saving $2.5 billion a year • Rob Undersander – example of a flaw in the system Trump’s Proposal (Reiley, 2019) (Fadulu, 2019c)
- 6. Consequences • 3 million people may lose their benefits • 1 million children will lose the automatic eligibility for free school lunches • Entire schools will lose their ability to provide free lunches to all students (Fadulu, 2019b) (Fessler, 2019)
- 7. • Allows for denying immigrants the adjustment of legal status if they receive federal assistance • Exceptions for active U.S. military members, refugees, and asylum seekers. • Targets people who entered the US legally • Was planned to go into effect on October 15 • Was blocked by federal judges Public Charge (Long & Colvin, 2019) (Wamsley et al, 2019)
- 8. • “A total of 8.3 million children who are currently enrolled in Medicaid or receiving SNAP benefits are potentially at risk of disenrollment” (Zallman et al., 2019) • A decline in participation in federal assistance programs • Worsening health outcomes • Placing a burden on charitable food organizations Consequences (Bleich & Fleischhacker, 2019)
- 9. We should stop the changes No evidence that a significant number of ineligible people used SNAP benefits Increase in economic instability Nutrition support is essential Academic success Lower rates of obesity, hypertension and heart disease (Hiltzik, 2019)
- 10. Thank you
- 11. References • Bleich, S. N., Fleischhacker, S. (2019, February 26) Hunger or deportation: Implications of the Trump administration’s proposed public charge rule. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 51 (4), 505- 509. https://doi-org.ezproxymcp.flo.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2019.01.019 • Fadulu. L. (2019a, September 23). Agriculture Department flooded with appeals to stop Food Stamp purge. The New York Times . Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/us/politics/agriculture-department-food-stamp-purge.html • Fadulu. L. (2019b October 16). Trump administration delays cuts to Food Stamps and school meals. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/us/politics/trump-food-stamps- cuts.html • Fadulu. L. (2019c, October 4). Trump administration unveils more cuts to Food Stamp program. The New York Times . Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/04/us/politics/trump-food-stamp- cuts.html • Fessler, P. (2019, November 1). Comment period ends for proposal that would cut SNAP benefits for millions. National Public Radio. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/11/01/775078148/comment- period-ends-for-proposal-that-would-cut-snap-benefits-for-millions • Food assistance programs. (n.d.). U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved from https://www.nutrition.gov/food-assistance-programs
- 12. References • Food distribution [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://civileats.com/wp- content/uploads/2016/06/Food-Dsitribution-04.jpg • [Image of a piggy bank]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://livingonthecheap.com/lotc-cms/wp- content/uploads/2016/03/groceries-piggy-bank-save-1024x683.jpg • [Image of a protest]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://cdn.talkpoverty.org/content/uploads/2018/04/30115745/GettyImages- 952838834.jpg • [Image of a school lunch]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.agri- pulse.com/ext/resources/images/s/school_lunch_USDA_2.jpg?1508341813 • [Image of EBT cards]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pgpf.org/sites/default/files/SNAP-EBT-cards-blog.jpg • [Image of fruits and vegetables]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.von.gov.ng/wp- content/uploads/2018/08/food-33-696x478.jpg • Hiltzik, M. (2019, October 21). Column: Trump proposes denying free school meals to half a million children. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-10-21/hiltzik-trump-school-lunch
- 13. References • [Logo of National School Lunch Program]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ileadsantaclarita.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/NSLP-371x129.png • [Logo of Senior Farmer’s Market Nutrient Program]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.hopeinlancaster.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/SFMN-Program.png • [Logo of WIC]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.williamsoncounty- tn.gov/ImageRepository/Document?documentID=17457 • Long, C., Colvin, J. (2019, August 12). Trump targets legal immigration with new rules that could deny green cards to immigrants on food stamps, other aid. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved from https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-nw-trump-immigrants- green-cards-food-stamps-20190812-hzffvfvbwrd73aj3bkh4j2bv24-story.html • Policy basics: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). (2019, June 25). Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/policy-basics-the-supplemental-nutrition- assistance-program-snap
- 14. References • Reiley, L. (2019). Trump proposal would push 3 million Americans off food stamps. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/07/23/usda-proposes-snap-change-that- would-push-million-americans-off-food-stamps/ • USDA SNAP logo [Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Supplemental_Nutrition_As sistance_Program_logo.svg/1200px- Supplemental_Nutrition_Assistance_Program_logo.svg.png • Wamsley, L., Fessler, P., Gonzales, R. (2019, October 11).Federal judges in 3 states block Trump's 'Public Charge' Rule for Green Cards. National Public Radio. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/10/11/769376154/n-y-judge-blocks-trump-administrations- public-charge-rule • Zallman, L., Finnegan, K. E., Himmelstein, D. U., Touw, S., & Woolhandler, S. (2019, July 1). Implications of changing Public Charge immigration rules for children who need medical care. JAMA Pediatrics, 173(9). https://doi- org.ezproxymcp.flo.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.1744
Editor's Notes
- Hello. My name is Solomiya, and in this presentation, I will be discussing the recent governmental actions regarding Food Assistance Programs and their negative effect on the American community. Access to food remains an important issue, even in such a developed country like the United States. However, as recent events showed, the current administration decided to take a step backward in providing American citizens with food and proposed to cut the assistance programs.
- Before we proceed, let’s look at what "food assistance" means. This term generally refers to the multiple federal programs that are aimed to provide nutrition support to low-income individuals and families. Some of these programs include SNAP, which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, National School Lunch Program, and Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program. In our discussion, we will focus on the SNAP and lunch program.
- The SNAP is a program that covers a broad group of people. It was even called “the nation’s most important anti-hunger program.” This program assists not only to those who fall far below the poverty line but also to those who need only partial assistance. In 2018, it helped 40 million families to have an adequate diet, with two-thirds of the participants being families with children. Talking about its major impact, the SNAP kept around 3 million people out of poverty, including over 1 million children.
- So, how do people receive help? They should apply and be fit for a few conditions. First, their annual gross income should fall below 130% poverty line. So, the family with three members should have an income of 27,020 dollars a year in order to be eligible. Also, their assets should be below 2,250 dollars, or 3,500 dollars if there is an elderly or disabled household member. The program only applies to citizens or eligible non-citizens, such as refugees, and sets a time limit for childless individuals. After they are confirmed to be eligible for all conditions, they are issued an EBT card. This card is recharged monthly and can be used to buy only groceries. So, the participants cannot buy cooked foods like in restaurants, alcohol, tobacco, and any non-grocery products. There are also limits for monetary assistance that a family can receive. The household that consists of one person can receive up to 192 dollars in assistance, and the household of size four can receive up to 642 dollars.
- Our first issue is Trump’s proposal to cut federal food assistance programs by reducing the number of eligible people. It is believed that over five years, such reform will reduce the funding, and therefore, the spending on these programs, by 4.5 billion dollars. The changes include adjusting the eligibility requirements, changing the calculation method for utility expenses, and having stricter work requirements for staying in the programs. The Trump administration rationalizes such changes by saying that it will help the government to save 2.5 billion per year and decrease the number of ineligible people who use benefits. They provide Rob Undersander as an example. He is known as a wealthy man from Minnesota who received nutrition assistance despite owning significant assets. So far, these reforms look like a good idea, but your opinion will change after you look at their consequences.
- If this proposal will be taken into action, around three million people are going to lose their eligibility for the programs. What’s more, around one million children will not be automatically eligible for free school lunches. This means that their parents have to apply if they want their children to participate in the program. Because of the additional paperwork, some parents may not apply, and even if they do, their children may still not be able to receive assistance. The proposed reform will also affect schools that use nutrition assistance programs to provide free meals to all their students. They simply will not be able to continue because of decreased funding.
- A similar proposal was made earlier, but this time it was only about immigrant families. It is known as the Public Charge Rule and would prevent immigrants who received any form of federal assistance, including nutritional, from adjusting their legal status. The rule does not apply for active U.S. military members, refugees, and asylum seekers. The main target of such a policy is those who have an official legal status since illegal immigrants cannot participate in federal programs. The rule was planned to go into effect last month on October 15 but was blocked by three federal jungles, so the issue remains unresolved. The judges explained their actions by saying that people should be able to have access to essential benefits.
- The consequences of the Public Charge rule are dreadful. One study showed that a total of 8.3 million children are at risk of being disenrolled from federal assistance programs such as SNAP benefits and Medicaid. And, although the rule is not active yet, some immigrant families are already disenrolling from federal assistance programs. This increases food insecurity and results in worse health of individuals. Also, such regulations place a greater burden on charity organizations because more people will be relying on them to receive some form of food assistance. However, these organizations have limited abilities and cannot provide proper nutrition for everyone who needs help.
- As you can see, the consequences of both proposed policies lead to multiple negative consequences. Even the reasons for introducing these changes seem to be mistaken. For example, there is no substantial evidence proving that a significant number of people benefit from the nutrition assistance programs while having significant assets or income. Also, the number of immigrants participating in such programs is relatively low compared to US citizens. It is also worth to note that the changes will spread food insecurity in the county and significantly impact the economic mobilities of many. Therefore, the US will not benefit from such reforms because of potential economic instability. The reasons to decrease enrollment have turned out to be the reason to increase the funding for such programs. Having proper nutrition is crucial for children because it helps them to succeed academically and avoid health problems, such as obesity, hypertension, and heart disease, in the future. Therefore, the policymakers should focus on making fresh and good foods more accessible to communities and, first of all, to the children. And, instead of cutting lunch programs, they should look for a way to make lunch free for every student.
- Thank you for paying your attention.