“Hey man, do you wanna buy my food stamps? It has 180 in it, just give me 90.” Those were the words of someone who came into work one day. He offered me his EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) card, which I immediately declined. That did not stop the man; he just went onto the next person he saw. Unlike me one of my coworkers did not decline the offer, he immediately took out 90 dollars in cash and gave them to the man. The man gave him a PIN number for the card and said he would be back for it the week after. One or two days after I saw the documentary A Place At The TableInstead of being increased, the SNAP program should be better managed because there are people who abuse the system., a documentary about hunger in the US and how the government should battle it. I felt so angry after seeing how many good people who really needed the help were not getting it. This is why I believe that instead of increasing the funds, they should be better managed because there are people abusing the system.
SNAP offers nutrition assistance to million of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP is the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net. It is administered by the US Department of Agriculture. (Wiki)
The reason behind my belief of better managing SNAP, and that aid should be given to those who are really in need, is because people are becoming more comfortable with receiving help from the government. People are relying more and more in food stamps and don’t want to work for themselves. SNAP should be given to people just until they are back on their feet not for the rest of their lives. The government should still help those in need but only to a certain extent, not forever. As my mom says “Les das la mano, y te agarran el pie,” meaning that some people trespass the limits and abuse when something is given to them. The percentage of Americans selling their food stamps back to stores for cash has increased by 30 percent over the past several years, according to a new Agriculture Department study. About 10.5 percent of all authorized SNAP stores are engaged in trafficking, the study found. These studies made by the Agriculture Department show how people are abusing the system. There should be a requirement added to the SNAP application, which is a drug test. Some may disagree with me and claim that it is an unnecessary and unfair requirement. However, the way I see it is that if you have nothing to lose or worry about then this requirement shouldn’t even be a problem. If aid is what you are looking for and you know you are clean then you have nothing to worry about.
An example of people who truly need help to obtain food are single mothers with several children. It is really hard to have a job and be a parent at the same time, and those who can do it should be given awards for it. Single mothers’ need help because kids should eat well in their early years. If not provided with the necessary food for growth and development, children could suffer from sicknesses the rest of their life. As it was shown on the movie A Place At The Table, Barbie struggled a lot because she wasn’t able to find a job, she received help from the government but not enough, if those people who are just taking advantage of this help weren’t allowed to do so, people like Barbie could have a little more to feed their children. Also once Barbie could get a job she was not given any more aid, they immediately stopped helping her after she got her job, but she still struggled a little to feed her children. People in those situations should still be receiving help until they are completely back on their feet.
Finally, I believe that Americans have an inaccurate definition of hunger. Real hunger can be seen in countries as Africa, where people are truly starving. Also food prices are too high, according to the documentary A Place At The Table healthy food prices have gone up by 40% since the 1980’s, while processed foods have gone down. If that were changed food insecurity wouldn’t be that much of a problem anymore.
SNAP offers nutrition assistance to million of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities. SNAP is the largest program in the domestic hunger safety net. It is administered by the US Department of Agriculture. (Wiki)
The reason behind my belief of better managing SNAP, and that aid should be given to those who are really in need, is because people are becoming more comfortable with receiving help from the government. People are relying more and more in food stamps and don’t want to work for themselves. SNAP should be given to people just until they are back on their feet not for the rest of their lives. The government should still help those in need but only to a certain extent, not forever. As my mom says “Les das la mano, y te agarran el pie,” meaning that some people trespass the limits and abuse when something is given to them. The percentage of Americans selling their food stamps back to stores for cash has increased by 30 percent over the past several years, according to a new Agriculture Department study. About 10.5 percent of all authorized SNAP stores are engaged in trafficking, the study found. These studies made by the Agriculture Department show how people are abusing the system. There should be a requirement added to the SNAP application, which is a drug test. Some may disagree with me and claim that it is an unnecessary and unfair requirement. However, the way I see it is that if you have nothing to lose or worry about then this requirement shouldn’t even be a problem. If aid is what you are looking for and you know you are clean then you have nothing to worry about.
An example of people who truly need help to obtain food are single mothers with several children. It is really hard to have a job and be a parent at the same time, and those who can do it should be given awards for it. Single mothers’ need help because kids should eat well in their early years. If not provided with the necessary food for growth and development, children could suffer from sicknesses the rest of their life. As it was shown on the movie A Place At The Table, Barbie struggled a lot because she wasn’t able to find a job, she received help from the government but not enough, if those people who are just taking advantage of this help weren’t allowed to do so, people like Barbie could have a little more to feed their children. Also once Barbie could get a job she was not given any more aid, they immediately stopped helping her after she got her job, but she still struggled a little to feed her children. People in those situations should still be receiving help until they are completely back on their feet.
Finally, I believe that Americans have an inaccurate definition of hunger. Real hunger can be seen in countries as Africa, where people are truly starving. Also food prices are too high, according to the documentary A Place At The Table healthy food prices have gone up by 40% since the 1980’s, while processed foods have gone down. If that were changed food insecurity wouldn’t be that much of a problem anymore.