Food Stamps

Hi guys, my name is Alex. I am 17 years old and I do not know where my next meal is going to be. I go to Long Island High School and I have been living off Food Stamps since I was a little boy. A lot of people do not know that I do not know where my next meal is. I feel embarrassed about telling people because I sit at lunch with my friends and I see them with their lunch boxes filled with food. And while they eat their food  eating their food thinking about what they will have for dinner,  I sit there with a sandwich I have to share with my brothers thinking about whether i will even have dinner tonight. Of course there were kids who would question me at lunch saying "where's your food" and saying "are you poor or something?" and I would say I was not hungry to avoid the kids and bullies. When I was young, I thought everyone was using Food Stamps. I believed that everyone would get free food once a month from the Government and that everyone lives off it, but that is not the case. Food Stamps is a form of support for people who may not always have enough money to buy food for themselves of their family. Many people and families use this type of support and you may never know. I thought everyone used it until I got older and saw we would not go to the same stores, or buy the same brand, or use a card or use regular money. 

Food Stamps or food assistance has been around since 1939 as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's way to get the country back on track after The Great Depression. Over the years, you see more and more people having to use this type of assistance in their lives. Plus, with the growing impact of technology, many more people are able to use assistance. Now in today's world where it becomes harder and more expensive to support oneself, many people cannot afford to support themselves and another person such as their child or children. Therefore the Government changed Food Stamps to SNAP or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to avoid the negative thoughts that you were poor or broke. In recent years you may see lines that wrap around city blocks with people waiting to either apply for SNAP or receive the benefits.

The image that is shown here shows the struggles majority of people go through when they have to apply for SNAP. The Government has had to make applying for benefits easier because there has been a huge increase in the amount of people who need it. Along with that, since this is Government supported, they pay for all the people. Just ten years ago the Government put out 31 billion dollars for this program. Can you even imagine 31 billion dollars? That is a lot of money to just give out and not get a return back for years. One day, I saw a kid from my school come to the same store as us, then the next day I saw more kids come to that same store and realized that many kids that I know could be going through the same thing as my family. The point of this is to get you to recognize that the person standing or sitting next to you may not be as fortunate as you and to be aware and considerate towards others. You never know what they could be going through.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wofi37ZAk6k

This video above gives you an example other than me of how an adult supporting herself lives off Food Stamps.

References

Baum, C. L. (2011). The Effects of Food Stamps on Obesity. Southern Economic Journal, 77(3), 623-651.

KING, R. P., WARREN, C., CURETON, C., HOOLIHAN, C., YOUNG GRANNON, K., & NANNEY, M. S. (2016). HOW HEALTHY IS HUNGER RELIEF FOOD?. American Journal Of

Agricultural Economics, 98(2), 533-548. doi:10.1093/ajae/aaw007

Kupillas, L. M., & Nies, M. A. (2007). Obesity and poverty: Are food stamps to blame?. Home Health Care Management & Practice, 20(1), 41-49. doi:10.1177/1084822307304952

Yen, S. T., Andrews, M., Chen, Z., & Eastwood, D. B. (2008). Food Stamp Program Participation and Food Insecurity: An Instrumental Variables Approach. American Journal Of Agricultural Economics, 90(1), 117-132. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8276.2007.01045.x

Buggey, T. (2007, Summer). Storyboard for Ivan's morning routine. Diagram. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 9(3), 151. Retrieved December 14, 2007, from Academic Search Premier database.