The First Food Stamp Program (FSP): May 16, 1939-Spring 1943
“We got to picture a gorge, with farm surpluses on one cliff and under-nourished city folks with outstretched hands on the other. We set out to find a practical way to build a bridge across that chasm” (USDA, 2013). ~ FSP 1st Administrator Milo Perkins
The first food stamp program (FSP) originated in 1939, through an idea of Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace and Milo Perkins, the program’s first Administrator (USDA, 2013). The initial implementation of orange food stamps was a way to help individuals buy food at half of the cost. The program operated by permitting people on relief to buy orange stamps equal to their normal food expenditures; for every $1 worth of orange stamps purchased, 50 cents worth of blue stamps were received (USDA, 2013). The orange stamps were used to buy any type of food; blue stamps were used to buy food determined by the Department to be surplus. Participants bought their food stamps; the Federal government did not fund the FSP (USDA, 2013). For 4 years during the Depression, the first Food Stamp Program fed 20 million people at one time or another in nearly half of the total counties in the nation. The cost was $262 million – the equivalent of over $3 billion in 2007 dollars (USDA, 2013).
The first recipient was Mabel McFiggin of Rochester, New York; the first retailer to redeem the stamps was Joseph Mutolo; and the first retailer caught violating the program was Nick Salzano in October 1939 (USDA, 2013). According to the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] (2013), the program ended in 1946, as war spending brought the country out of the Depression. For the next 18 years, most of the country was better off. Nevertheless, there was still heart wrenching pockets of poverty in the United States.
The first recipient was Mabel McFiggin of Rochester, New York; the first retailer to redeem the stamps was Joseph Mutolo; and the first retailer caught violating the program was Nick Salzano in October 1939 (USDA, 2013). According to the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] (2013), the program ended in 1946, as war spending brought the country out of the Depression. For the next 18 years, most of the country was better off. Nevertheless, there was still heart wrenching pockets of poverty in the United States.
Pilot Food Stamp Program: May 29, 1961-1964
In 1961, Congress enacted a Food Stamp pilot program designed to help both poor people and farmers (USDA, 2013). This program was a revival idea from the first Food Stamp Program during the Great Depression. During 1930’s and early 1960’s, farmers were producing more food than the nation could consume or export, however a large group of people who were going to hungry (USDA, 2013). The Food Stamp Program was an attempt to alleviate hunger and to help farmers as well, during this era this pilot program was a response to the war on poverty. 18 years after the elimination of the first food stamp program, poverty was still an ongoing issue in the United States (USDA, 2013).
Food Stamp Act of 1964
In 1960, John F. Kennedy was campaigning for the Democratic Party's nomination for President and West Virginia was a key battleground primary. Kennedy campaigned tirelessly and talked with hundreds of poor coal miners and workers.
As Ted Sorensen, Kennedy's speech writer, says in his book Kennedy –
"He was appalled by the pitiful conditions he saw, by the children of poverty, by the families living on surplus lard and corn meal, by the waste of human resources… He called for better housing and better schools and better food distribution… He held up a skimpy surplus food package and cited real-life cases of distress."
The inauguration of President Kennedy took place in January 1961, and he promised an optimistic future despite the fact that there was a troubling recession going on and surplus farm products piling up in government storage bins (USDA, 2013). Not content to wait for Congress, his first Executive Order was to re-institute a "pilot" food stamp program based on the Depression-era model. Unfortunately, President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Despite his death Vice President Johnson, requested Congress to make the Food Stamp program permanent; This became the Food Stamp Act of 1964 (USDA, 2013). The Food Stamp Act was passed as a part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society Program (USDA, 2013). The goal of this initiative was to achieve a more effective use of agricultural overproduction, improve levels of nutrition among low-income families, and strengthen the agricultural economy (USDA, 2013). There were provisions made to require the States to have a plan of operation, such as developing eligibility requirements. The eligibility for the purchase of food stamps could only be for items intended for human consumption, excluding alcoholic beverages, and imported foods, and prohibitions against discrimination on basis of race, religious creed, national origin, or political beliefs (USDA, 2013). In addition, Federal and State governments had to share the responsibility for funding the cost of administration. Noticeably, the purchase requirement was still present.
As Ted Sorensen, Kennedy's speech writer, says in his book Kennedy –
"He was appalled by the pitiful conditions he saw, by the children of poverty, by the families living on surplus lard and corn meal, by the waste of human resources… He called for better housing and better schools and better food distribution… He held up a skimpy surplus food package and cited real-life cases of distress."
The inauguration of President Kennedy took place in January 1961, and he promised an optimistic future despite the fact that there was a troubling recession going on and surplus farm products piling up in government storage bins (USDA, 2013). Not content to wait for Congress, his first Executive Order was to re-institute a "pilot" food stamp program based on the Depression-era model. Unfortunately, President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Despite his death Vice President Johnson, requested Congress to make the Food Stamp program permanent; This became the Food Stamp Act of 1964 (USDA, 2013). The Food Stamp Act was passed as a part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society Program (USDA, 2013). The goal of this initiative was to achieve a more effective use of agricultural overproduction, improve levels of nutrition among low-income families, and strengthen the agricultural economy (USDA, 2013). There were provisions made to require the States to have a plan of operation, such as developing eligibility requirements. The eligibility for the purchase of food stamps could only be for items intended for human consumption, excluding alcoholic beverages, and imported foods, and prohibitions against discrimination on basis of race, religious creed, national origin, or political beliefs (USDA, 2013). In addition, Federal and State governments had to share the responsibility for funding the cost of administration. Noticeably, the purchase requirement was still present.
The Food Stamp Act of 1977
According to the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA] (2013), both the outgoing Republican Administration and the new Democratic Administration offered Congress proposed legislation to reform the Food Stamp Program in 1977. Major revisions were made to the program in the Food Stamp Act of 1977, including the elimination of the requirement that participants purchased food stamps (USDA, 2013). Other revisions were the establishment of uniform national standards of eligibility, the expansion of the program to minority communities, and more federal support of the implementation of the program at the state level (USDA, 2013). In addition, Students enrolled in a university were restricted access to benefits.
Development of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT): 1988-2004
In 1981, the Food Stamps Program experienced severe budget cuts during the Administration of President Ronald Reagan (USDA, 2013). This reduction in the program funding was associated with a subsequent rise in hunger in America during the 1980s (USDA, 2013). Some funding was restored to the Food Stamp Program in 1988 in order to combat the hunger crisis in America. Efforts were made to improve the Food Stamps Program, therefore the development of electronic benefit transfer (EBT) began in 1988. EBT usage is available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam (USDA, 2013). Significant changes were made to the Food Stamp Program in the early 2000s such as the program participation increased dramatically, and eligibility was extended to qualified immigrants and children who were 18 years old and younger (USDA, 2013). The EBT was created to eliminate the use of paper coupons, which were lost, sold or stolen (USDA, 2013). The Federal government wanted to eliminate fraudulent activity such as exchanging food stamps for cash, drugs, or other illegal goods (USDA, 2013).
Food Stamp Program renamed to SNAP: 2008
Since 2008, legislators have focused on restructuring the food stamps program to place greater emphasis on nutrition (SNAP to Health, 2010). In the 2008 Farm Bill, the program was renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and a pilot program was established to study the use of incentives to encourage the purchase of healthy foods with SNAP benefits (USDA, 2013). Several states worked to make it easier to use SNAP benefits at farmers' markets and other retail establishments that sell fresh, healthy foods. As of 2011, the SNAP program is the largest Federal food assistance program in the country (SNAP to Health, 2010). According to the United States Department of Agriculture (2013), SNAP is a critical safety net program, but also has the potential to be one of the most important health and nutrition initiatives in the United States.
Click here to view part 1 of the documentary "Hungry in America," this movie is a truly powerful film.