Beyond the Rhetoric: SNAP (Food Stamps) and America's Poor

Dan Glickman authored a very informative article on The Huffington Post explaining how and why SNAP (formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) has grown so much in recent years and highlighting the positive impact it makes for struggling families.

During the Obama years, SNAP has grown because the recession has driven millions into poverty, and because the president and Congress improved the eligibility for unemployed adults to get benefits. But as unemployment falls in the future (which all of us hope) and the economy strengthens, participation in the SNAP program will also come down. The program is counter-cyclical, growing when the economy is weak and falling when the economy strengthens and people get back to work.

The result is a fundamentally strong program with an unusually strong history of bipartisan support that is doing what it was designed to do: help people when they need help, and pull back in better economic times when they have jobs and family-supporting wages. In my judgment, SNAP is the foundation of our American safety net for the poor and lower income working families.

The piece also highlights recent polling by the Food Research and Action Center noting strong support for the program by Americans.

Click here to read the full article.