Food Stamp

4 Pages 1097 Words

The Food Stamp Program is the first line of protection against hunger. It enables low-income families to buy nutritious food with coupons or Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. Food stamp recipients spend their benefits to buy food in authorized retail food stores. People all over the country can get food stamps, but different states have different rules. The Food Stamp Program helped put food on the table for some 7.3 million households and 17.2 million individuals every year. The Food Stamp Program is the cornerstone of the Federal food assistance programs, and provides crucial support to needy households and to those making the transition from welfare to work. A household is a person or a group of people living together, but not necessarily related, who purchase and prepare food together. Households, except those with elderly or disabled members, must have gross incomes below 130 percent of the poverty line. All households must have net incomes below 100 percent of poverty to be eligible. Most households may have up to $2,000 in countable resources (e.g., checking/savings account, cash, stocks/bonds). Households with at least one household member who is disabled or age 60 or older may have up to $3,000 in resources. Currently, program benefits provide an average of about 78 cents a meal per persons. It provided an average of $1.25 billion a month in benefits each Year.
Eligibility for the Food Stamp Program is based on financial and non-financial factors. The application process includes completing and filing an application form, being interviewed, and verifying facts crucial to determining eligibility. With certain exceptions, a household that meets the eligibility requirements is qualified to receive benefits. Most legal immigrants who were in the United States as of August 22, 1996 and who are children, elderly, or disabled can get food stamps. The welfare reform act of 1996 ended eligibility for many legal immigrants, tho...