The US Department of Agriculture is working to revise the food stamps program’s funding formula. It will focus on the cost of healthy meals while doing so.
The reason to do it is to ensure a safe and high-quality food supply for beneficiaries of food stamps. In the US, food stamp recipients face difficulty to afford healthy meals. Hence, they buy cheap food with less nutritional value by paying less.
For millions of Americans, food stamps are a lifeline to get healthy food for survival. According to the USDA, around 9 out of 10 people find it really difficult to feed themselves and their families with nutritious food.
Cost – Most Common Hurdle for Americans to Afford Healthy Food
As per the agency, the major hurdle for most Americans to afford healthy food is cost. About 61% of enrollees face this problem. 30% Americans said they don’t have sufficient time to prepare food from beginning.
Moreover, they also don’t have transporation to the grocery store (19%) and storage for food (14%). Families in America experienced shortage of food supply in the last 10 days of the month.
Hence, they opt for less nutritious food that costs less. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack admitted at the Miken Institute Future of Health Summit that it is a wake-up call.
Besides, the secretary said families will further experience a drop in benefits following the expiration of the pandemic enhancement by September end.
Re-evaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan
As mentioned by Congress in the 2018 Farm Bill, the USDA agency is going for the reevaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan. Under this plan, certain benefit amounts are set for the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (previous name for food stamps).
While evaluating the plan, its value was only adjusted as per the inflation since its introduction in 1975. However, many changes are there in nutrition science since then.
There are changes in food supply, consumption patterns, and change in circumstances of participants over time. Consumer advocates are asking for the review of the plan for a long time.
The current plan doesn’t focus on cost of healthy food. Besides, it makes impractical assumptions regarding food affordability, availability, time to shop and prepare meals.
The agency will complete the review by 2020. However, the farm bill 2018 demands the update of the review by 2022 and after every five years thereafter.
Food Stamps are important for around 42 million Americans who rely on them. And this number has increased significantly during the coronavirus period.
