What are Food Stamps?
The Food Stamp Program is a program created by the federal government to provide food to people with low income. Food stamps have been in use since 1939, and it was created by former Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace. At the beginning, food stamps were used to allow people to buy farm surpluses that otherwise were going to waste. The program lasted until 1943, when surplus were not longer a problem. After that, different food stamps were created.
Food stamps are distributed in two basic forms: as vouchers in a booklet or as Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. Both can be used at most supermarkets and food shops, and even to buy some prepared foods such as cold sandwiches, as long as they're eaten as take-out and not restaurant-style. Food stamps can also be used to buy seeds to start your own vegetable garden, Ensure and other nutritional supplements, and most types of baby formula and weight loss drinks such as Slim Fast. For disabled people who cannot cook, food stamps can also buy food from Meals on Wheels and other delivery services catering to the poor and disabled. Food stamps cannot be used to buy household products such as cleaning supplies, toothpaste, or soap.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, about 55 percent of the households who use food stamps include children, and only nine percent are for people over age 60. Most of the people who receive food stamps are white (41 percent), with the small percentage being Native Americans (two percent). While anyone can apply for food stamps, benefits are limited to people who are either U.S. citizens or legal residents.
To qualify for food stamps, all people over the age of 18 must register to work and be willing to participate on a work/study training program. For people who are currently working, it is still possible in 2006 to apply for food stamps if their income is under $1,062 US Dollars (USD) a month per person for a household without children, or $1,595 US Dollars (USD) per person if children live in the house. Both income and expenses are taken into consideration when deciding if a family qualifies for food stamps.
Written by Diana Bocco
