The U.S. Farm Bill and SNAP

                The United States Farm Bill is a bill that is passed every five years that deals with agricultural and food policies (United States farm bill). Farms bills deal with a lot of aspects, and “can impact international trade, environmental conservation, food safety, and the well-being of rural communities” (United States farm bill). It impacts our daily lives, yet we don’t always think about it, or even understand very well. A huge portion of the Farm Bill and funding goes to SNAP, which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. This social welfare program used to be commonly known as The Food Stamp Program. (Food Stamps (Now SNAP….)) No matter how you feel personally about the bill and SNAP, it affects us all daily and has a huge impact on our economy.

                Of the entire Farm Bill budget, a vast majority of it goes to SNAP. In the last bill passed by Congress in 2014, the estimated budget is about $956.4 billion over the next decade (Plumer). Of this amount, $756 billion of this goes to SNAP and other nutritional programs (Plumer). This is about 79.1% of the budget. There are have been lots of arguments and modifications to the SNAP, and the 2014 bill was no exception. There was a $8 billion cut to the program, as well as the introduction of a plethora of various programs to help the unemployed find jobs (Plumer).

                To be eligible for SNAP benefits, one has a pass a series of requirements (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). These include requirements for income, monthly resources, housing, and immigrant status, since not all immigrants and undocumented immigrants are ineligible for such social welfare programs. Applying for SNAP can be quite easy, but it does matter which state you live. To apply, recipients need to fill out a form and turn it into either a SNAP office or now it can be done online. Applying is easy, but being eligible is more challenging.

                Like most things in life, SNAP and other nutritional programs have their pros and cons. It’s important to know both sides before picking which one to support, that way we can make the most informed decision. There is a lot more to the Farm Bill than just SNAP, but hopefully this post helps you understand just a little better than you may have before.

N.a. "Food Stamps (Now SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)." Food Assistance. Utah.gov, 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
Plumer, Brad. "The $956 Billion Farm Bill, in One Graph." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
N.a. "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
N.a. "United States Farm Bill." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.