The Food Stamp Program: A Success Story

James Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), recently wrote a great article about the Food Stamp program, including its success in reaching more eligible people and providing a very solid safety net for low-income individuals in our country. 

The author points out that the program "has been praised for its efficiency and hailed by economists across the political spectrum as one of the most important tools for stimulating the economy."

One of the biggest changes over the last decade,  notes Weill, is that the stigma for participating in the program seems to have been greatly reduced.

Here's an excerpt:

The last 10 years have produced a considerable detoxification of the political atmosphere around food stamps and a strengthening of the program. The proportion of eligible people receiving food stamps rose from 56 percent in 2000 to 65 percent in 2005, the last year data are available. The overall number of food stamp recipients increased from 17.2 million in an average month in 2000 to 26.5 million in an average month in 2007. Because of the nation’s economic troubles, in the coming year, the number of people receiving food stamps is expected to hit 28 million, its highest level ever.

Click here to read the full article, which is entitled What the Food Stamp Program Can Teach Us About Fighting Poverty.

The discussion is very timely because Food Stamps are a very important part of the 2007 Farm Bill, which Congress has yet to approve.   Read  Bread for the World's latest update.

The Farm Bill will be the focus of the Bill Moyers Journal on PBS this coming Friday, April 11.  The guest will be Bread for the World President David Beckmann, who also appeared on the program the previous Friday to talk about global poverty.   Be sure to tune in.