Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

[Lyric]

Although I consider myself a relatively well-informed person, this took me by surprise. I'm a low-income college student who receives Food Stamps for both my son and myself. Or at least, I used to. I'm not sure what I receive now, because apparently the Food Stamp Program has undergone a big name change. It's now the "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program," or "SNAP" as my paperwork suggests. I Googled it and it seems that the entire Food Stamp Program has indeed been officially renamed.

Forgive me for being a little leery, but I can't imagine why the name change was necessary unless there's some other big change that goes along with it. However, I am having a rather difficult time finding any good information about what's new with the program, and why the name change was necessary. Oddly enough, even Wikipedia is silent on the matter--and Wiki is usually the first thing updated whenever something "of note" happens in the world. Changes to the Food Stamp Program (especially a name change) would certainly seem to qualify as "noteworthy," especially with the scary state of the economy right now. Yet I haven't heard a single word from the media--not even the local yokels.

Anyway--does anyone have any information about this change? Social workers of DU, have you heard anything in the office about it? I just had a re-certification a couple of weeks ago, and not a single word was said about this. Very strange.

If I had to make a guess, I'd say the name change has something to do with the government wanting to firmly define the Food Stamp Program as a "supplementary" program rather than a program meant to provide all of the food for recipients. This has always been the case, but why the sudden desire to more firmly impress that fact? The only reason I can come up with for the government wanting to emphasize it enough to change the name is that they might be planning to stop increasing benefits at the current rate, which means future benefits will provide less and less of a percentage of a recipient family's food costs. Thus the emphasis on "supplemental."

Since so very many of us are in danger of needing public assistance in the near future, I think it's in our collective interest to figure out what the government is up to with this. This is not a good time for the government to start messing around with our social safety nets. In fact, it makes me nervous.

Thanks all.

[sandnsea]

1. You've got it, here's the press release

Note the repeated reference to the word "supplemental", like in this sentence.

"SNAP will continue to be the largest domestic nutrition assistance program providing a vital supplement to the food budgets of more than 28 million low-income individuals each month."

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/09/0241.xml

[charlie]

2. Seems okay

Apart from the new name and mandating electronic card use, all changes look like an expansion of benefits.

Summary:

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2008/09/0241.xml

More comprehensive:

http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/rules/Memo/08/070308.pdf

[Selatius]

3. I'm still waiting on why they changed it to "Department of Defense" from "Department of War"

The original name was more honest. It told you what the hell they were about. When they were attacking Spanish colonies or Mexico, it was defense. When they were busy putting down the Filipino population using mass genocide, that was not defense. The list is long.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. maybe they did it because it's not a stamp anymore

but an electornic debit card.

seems to make sense to me.

[Lyric]

7. Perhaps. But I still wonder why

there wasn't more publicity given to the matter than this. Operating under the radar for something as big as this seems...odd. Changing the Food Stamp Program's name is kind of like changing the Social Security Program's name. They aren't going to do it without some pretty enormous reasons because it's been around for soooo long, and to do it so quietly...I can't help but wonder what's coming.

[sandnsea]

9. I posted the press release

Maybe you missed it. It's pretty damn clear if you know how to read what these bastards are up to.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4173760&mesg_id=4173785

[Azlady]

5. Hmmmm

I am interested to read what any Social Worker or Gov Worker might have to say on this subject. This makes me nervous, with all that has happened to our country in the last 8 years and now in the last 2 weeks, I am suspect of the motiviation beyond a name change. I understand that what the provided under the Food Stamp Program was a supplement, I think most of do, but this change in name makes me feel like they are "covering their asses"... for what.

[Lyric]

6. Yep, me too.

There's something more to this. The government doesn't make changes like this to a longstanding, important program without better reasons than the ones they gave. It makes me wonder what new rules and regulations are set to be implemented in the future.

[sandnsea]

8. Not the full food stamp allotment

It was intended to be enough to feed someone for a full month. It was food, not a nutritional supplement like WIC. It was then pro-rated, as income went up. They have completely removed that idea. They did the same thing with the earned income credit. It was originally to make up for FICA taxes. They changed it to EITC, pretending that it's got something to do with regular federal taxes, when it doesn't and never did. This is how they fuel the idea that people who don't pay any taxes get money they don't deserve. And this thread shows just how it happens. Even after everything we've been through, there are still people who refuse to believe how these right wingers work.