Trump Adminstration's USDA wants to give out Food Packages for half of SNAP benefits without SNAP beneficiaries input. If the USDA cared? They'd give out a menu allowing people to choose what they can eat.

Trump Administration Wants To Decide What Food SNAP Recipients Will Get

The Trump administration is proposing a major shake-up in one of the country's most important "safety net" programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. Under the proposal, most SNAP recipients would lose much of their ability to choose what food they'll buy with their SNAP benefits.

Me, "The Trump administration wants to stop SNAP recipients from choosing what they can eat. They want the states to give out USDA Food Packages and cut benefits in half. If the Trump administration actually cared, as they say they do, they would keep SNAP Benefits at current levels AND give out these care packages. A lot of people on SNAP do not get enough, as it is, to feed themselves, through the month. They use other forms of income, and handouts to get by. 
 If the USDA wants to give out Food Packages they should ask people what they want to eat. If it is cheaper, to get the food through the states, then give people a menu and let them order. I am not saying for every package, but let them have a general menu of what is available. People have food allergies. People have to be on special diets: Low Salt, Low Cholesterol, Gluten free, Vegetarian, Vegan etc. Are we really going to tell these people they have to eat whatever is provided? Good luck on your health?
I am all for stream lining government programs but people should have a choice as to what they can eat. What are we in the Soviet Union?

*One other thing. 
A lot of SNAP Beneficiaries live in Low Income areas. How will these people receive their USDA Food Package? If they are not home? What is to stop someone from stealing the food box?"


From article, (The Trump administration is proposing a major shake-up in one of the country's most important "safety net" programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. Under the proposal, most SNAP recipients would lose much of their ability to choose the food they buy with their SNAP benefits.
The proposal is included in the Trump administration budget request for fiscal year 2019. It would require approval from Congress.
Under the proposal, which was announced Monday, low-income Americans who receive at least $90 a month — just over 80 percent of all SNAP recipients — would get about half of their benefits in the form of a "USDA Foods package." The package was described in the budget as consisting of "shelf-stable milk, ready to eat cereals, pasta, peanut butter, beans and canned fruit and vegetables." The boxes would not include fresh fruits or vegetables.

Currently, SNAP beneficiaries get money loaded onto an EBT card they can use to buy what they want as long as it falls under the guidelines. The administration says the move is a "cost-effective approach" with "no loss in food benefits to participants."

The USDA believes that state governments will be able to deliver this food at much less cost than SNAP recipients currently pay for food at retail stores — thus reducing the overall cost of the SNAP program by $129 billion over the next 10 years.
This and other changes in the SNAP program, according to the Trump administration, will reduce the SNAP budget by $213 billion over those years — cutting the program by almost 30 percent.)


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