The Trump Administration released a proposed budget on Monday that would gut SNAP benefits by $17.2 billion in 2019, which is roughly 22 percent of the program’s total cost, according to NBC News.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), funded through tax payer dollars, assists low-income families by giving them a monthly food allowance — what’s commonly known as food stamps.
The food stamp program assists more than 16 million households and director of the Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney told reporters that under the proposed plan, half of SNAP recipients will have half of their benefits go toward a food delivery box, called America’s Harvest Box.
It isn’t enough to merely be poor in Trump’s America. This @WhiteHouse also wants you to feel poor. From housing to education to food stamps, their policies seem engineered to not only ensure maximum awareness of one’s indigence, but to infer that one should be humiliated by it.
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) February 13, 2018
Mulvaney said, “What we do is propose that, for folks who are on food stamps — part, not all — part of their benefits come in the actual sort of — and I don’t want to steal somebody’s copyright — but a Blue Apron-type program where you actually receive the food instead of receive the cash.”
Proponents of the plan have argued that all food placed in the box would be American grown and Sonny Perdue, the agriculture secretary said, “It maintains the same level of food value as SNAP participants currently receive, provides states flexibility in administering the program, and is responsible to the taxpayers.”
The program would also allow states to determine what food they distribute within the program.
However, Democratic lawmakers are boldly denouncing the plan and Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts tweeted, “This sounds like something from the Great Depression, not 2018″ and took issue with the lack of fresh produce that would be available to recipients.
This is outrageous: #TrumpBudget doesn’t just cut #SNAP by $200 BILLION
Hungry families lose HALF their financial aid & instead get monthly box of govt-selected food. They call it a “Harvest Box” but it won’t include ANY fresh food. This is a cruel joke. https://t.co/wSGbUskVKx pic.twitter.com/vQCfSKdNRt
— Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) February 13, 2018
Representative Barbra Lee of California said she raised her children on food stamps and has stated the idea is offensive. She tweeted, “As a single mother who relied on food stamps to help feed my boys, I can’t overstate how offensive this proposal is…Low-income families need more access to fresh produce & healthy foods, not less.”
The new plan will limit food choices for recipients and cut funding, which ultimately strips recipients of what little resources they already have.