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The Biden administration’s decision in mid-August to expand the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is an important step. It will increase the economic safety net for millions of Americans. The changes will revise nutritional standards and increase benefit amounts. These steps are important because of the pandemic’s negative impact on the fortunes of the working poor and families. During the pandemic, access to a nutritional diet decreased. Traditional food assistance payments proved inadequate to meet the needs of families. The increase in governmental assistance is designed to improve nutritional outcomes and increase access to benefits.
SNAP has been in existence since 1933 as the part of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The program was significantly updated in 1977. The program has provided millions in aid and substantially improved nutritional outcomes for families. Enrollment in the program has doubled since the Great Recession in 2008. According to one report, 10% of US households suffer from food shortages. including 17% of Black families. The need to remedy this situation lies at the heart of the changes to the program initiated by the Biden administration.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) changed its model dietary plan, known as the Thrifty Food Plan. The plan represents the cost of groceries need to provide a healthy, budget conscious diet for a family of four. It takes the current grocery prices, consumption pattern, food composition data, and current dietary guidance into consideration to calculate a rate sufficient to sustain a family.
Starting in October, all 42 million SNAP recipients will receive a 25% increase in benefits. The average benefit in the -pandemic era was $121 per person. It will increase by $36 per month. This increase is the largest in more than four decades. According to the new plan, a family of four requires $193, rather than $159, to meet all their nutritional requirements, including fruits ($27), dairy ($28), grains ($31), protein ($47), vegetables ($46), and others ($14).
Observers believe that the changes in the SNAP program will have numerous benefits for recipients and society, in general. Benefits include an increase in monthly aid, decreased hunger, lower rates of malnutrition in children, a decrease in hospital admittances , lower healthcare costs, and improved attentional and participatory behavior in children . These changes will provide extra protection against the COVID-19 virus. The additional money families will spend on groceries will boost the economy.
This initiative was part of the American Rescue Plan, which included a 1.9 trillion relief package to Congress in January. The American Rescue Plan was signed by President Biden on March 12, 2021. This package included direct payments to the unemployed who had lost jobs due to the pandemic. The legislation also provided job protection for workers unable to assume new employment due to the fear of contracting COVID-19. The plan was part of a broader realization that the pandemic’s effects were devastating on women and children and America’s families. The proposed plan to increase SNAP benefits was part of an executive order designed to “tweak programs to provide some assistance.”