It’s official! I’m taking the SNAP Challenge next week! I’m not expecting to have any great insights or revelations, but I’m hoping that being hungry for a week will motivate me to read a few more articles, ponder a few more ideas.
In the meantime, read this! Free to Be Hungry by Paul Krugman
“‘Later,’ he said, Republicans will deal with the nation’s most important anti-hunger program. ‘Later,’ maybe, they will think about the needs of 47 million people who can’t afford adequate food, probably by cutting the average daily subsidy of $4.39.'”
“…The food stamp program (now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) has long been one of the most effective and efficient anti-poverty programs ever devised. When counted as income, SNAP benefits cut extreme poverty nearly in half, a new study shows. Most families who get the aid have an adult who is working.”
“The only way forward is for a Senate-House conference committee to restore the food stamp program to the farm bill (the Senate bill contains a far more modest $4 billion reduction in food stamps). Since compassion is no longer an incentive for the House, the threat of a cutoff to the big lobbyists will have to work, just as it always has.”
Short and sweet, courtesy of Paul Krugman.
As seen above, SNAP participation tends to follow U6 unemployment (underemployment) by a short lag.
Mind Over Menu 