Milo Perkins once said “We got a picture of 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.” Milo Perkins was the first administrator of the first food stamp program, which began in 1939. Starting from physical stamps to now using an electronic card system, the food stamp program evolved and expanded greatly over the past 78 years. The Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) has not only helped low income families, but also the farmers and the economy of the United States. SNAP has helped millions of people and is a very much needed program if we do not want millions to go without food. Beginning in 1939, the
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It allowed people to buy physical orange stamps, which were worth a $1, and receive blue stamps, which were only worth 50 cents (“Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)”). Orange stamps were used to buy any food wanted, but blue stamps could only buy food that was determined to be in surplus by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (“SNAP”). Due to mass unemployment and food surpluses no longer being major problems, the program was ended in 1943. During its short time, it helped over 20 million people and had a total cost of $262 million (“SNAP”). Eighteen years after the end of the first program, a new pilot program began in 1961 under Executive Order by President John F. Kennedy. The stamps were still physical and needed to be bought, but blue stamps were removed. Three years later, under President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Food Stamp Act of 1964 which made the pilot program permanent (“SNAP”). During the 1960s and 70s, the program expanded and raised the cost from millions to billions. 1977 brought the Food Stamps Act of 1977, …show more content…
I, myself, was a participant in SNAP and know that without it my family have never been able to afford to buy food for my two brothers and I. Both my parents worked hard, my mom as a house cleaner and my dad as a construction worker, but that was not enough to raise 3 kids. Together, on a good year, they probably made $12,000 a year and without SNAP, they would have never been able to afford food for us. My mother knows firsthand how it feels to go without food as a child and having to experience the pain of your stomach grumbling louder and louder. She has told the stories of how my grandmother would do her best to scrape up some money to provide food for my mom and my aunt. My grandmother would not always be able to find money and they would go hungry or she would go hungry instead and give what food they had to my mom and aunt. No person should have think about whether they will eat today. They should not have to make the decision of whether their children or they will eat. They should not have to feel the pain of starvation and hope that food will come soon. SNAP helps to stop that from happening here in the United States and without millions will go hungry and many will lose their
It allowed people to buy physical orange stamps, which were worth a $1, and receive blue stamps, which were only worth 50 cents (“Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)”). Orange stamps were used to buy any food wanted, but blue stamps could only buy food that was determined to be in surplus by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (“SNAP”). Due to mass unemployment and food surpluses no longer being major problems, the program was ended in 1943. During its short time, it helped over 20 million people and had a total cost of $262 million (“SNAP”). Eighteen years after the end of the first program, a new pilot program began in 1961 under Executive Order by President John F. Kennedy. The stamps were still physical and needed to be bought, but blue stamps were removed. Three years later, under President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Food Stamp Act of 1964 which made the pilot program permanent (“SNAP”). During the 1960s and 70s, the program expanded and raised the cost from millions to billions. 1977 brought the Food Stamps Act of 1977, …show more content…
I, myself, was a participant in SNAP and know that without it my family have never been able to afford to buy food for my two brothers and I. Both my parents worked hard, my mom as a house cleaner and my dad as a construction worker, but that was not enough to raise 3 kids. Together, on a good year, they probably made $12,000 a year and without SNAP, they would have never been able to afford food for us. My mother knows firsthand how it feels to go without food as a child and having to experience the pain of your stomach grumbling louder and louder. She has told the stories of how my grandmother would do her best to scrape up some money to provide food for my mom and my aunt. My grandmother would not always be able to find money and they would go hungry or she would go hungry instead and give what food they had to my mom and aunt. No person should have think about whether they will eat today. They should not have to make the decision of whether their children or they will eat. They should not have to feel the pain of starvation and hope that food will come soon. SNAP helps to stop that from happening here in the United States and without millions will go hungry and many will lose their