{"id":6380,"date":"2013-11-23T07:34:46","date_gmt":"2013-11-23T12:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=6380"},"modified":"2013-11-23T07:34:46","modified_gmt":"2013-11-23T12:34:46","slug":"barrons-op-ed-time-reform-food-stamps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/23\/barrons-op-ed-time-reform-food-stamps\/","title":{"rendered":"Barron’s Op-Ed: Time to Reform Food Stamps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"barrons\"<\/a><\/strong>, November 23, 2013<\/p>\n

Reform Food Stamps for Good Nutrition<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By JAMES BOVARD<\/p>\n

The Agriculture Department should reform the food-stamp program to permit beneficiaries to purchase only high-nutrient foods.
\n\"food<\/a><\/p>\n

Since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, food-stamp spending has more than doubled, to roughly $80 billion a year, and the number of recipients has risen 70%, to 47 million. But the Obama administration and congressional Democrats are hitting the panic button over a scheduled phaseout of special benefits enacted to fight the last recession.<\/p>\n

Perhaps more importantly, the food-stamp program (recently renamed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) has dismally failed to improve nutrition, while fueling epidemics of obesity and diabetes. And the current program is more corrupt and wasteful than the program that exists in the imagination of its supporters.<\/p>\n

Kevin Concannon, undersecretary of agriculture for food, nutrition, and consumer services, bragged in January that food-stamp “fraud has been reduced to the lowest rate in the history of the program.” The Agriculture Department claims that only 1% of benefits are illicitly exchanged for cash or alcohol, drugs, or other prohibited uses.<\/p>\n

The Agriculture Department has rebuffed all efforts to target the food-stamp program toward healthful eating. It should be reformed to permit beneficiaries to purchase only high-nutrient foods<\/p>\n

But this is based solely on the number of violators who get caught. The USDA’s inspector general noted in September 2012 that the Food and Nutrition Service “reports recipient fraud as the number of recipients disqualified each year. This number only includes those recipients actually identified committing fraud and does not estimate the rate of potential fraud.” This is as deceptive as claiming that the number of speeding tickets that police issue automatically reveals how many drivers exceeded the speed limit.<\/p>\n

The inspector’s staff visited 10 states and discovered that, despite a vast increase in food-stamp enrollment, “none of the states had increased the resources” for fraud detection and prevention efforts.<\/p>\n

New Mexico Human Services Secretary Sidonie Squier complained in February that the biggest fraud issue in her state was individuals selling their food-stamp electronic-benefit card, then claiming it was lost or stolen. Roughly 70% of all such cards issued in New Mexico last year were replacement cards. Squier told Albuquerque’s KOB-TV, “We know that there are some people who lose them four, six, or eight times, and it’s pretty suspicious, but you can’t do anything about it based on the federal rules. They want people to have the cards.”<\/p>\n

With USDA encouragement and subsidies, state governments exert far more effort boosting enrollment than preventing abuses. Four years after the official end of the recession, Florida is paying individual recruiters to sign up at least 150 new food-stamp recipients per month. The Agriculture Department urges state and local governments to conduct food-stamp parties and bingo games to fan enthusiasm for the program.<\/p>\n

FEDERAL LAW SAYS the main purpose of food stamps is “raising levels of nutrition among low-income households.” The program is a dismal failure on this score: The USDA’s most recent national study found no difference in nutrient intake between food-stamp recipients and eligible nonrecipients.<\/p>\n

Food stamps are simply a blank check to enable recipients to procure tens of thousands of calories per month. Almost half of the women collecting food stamps are obese, according to a 2011 study financed by the National Institutes of Health. It also noted that “persons receiving food stamps consume more meat, added sugars, and total fats rather than fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products.” A California study (published in 2010 in Public Health Nutrition) found that adult food-stamp recipients are 30% more likely to be obese than eligible nonrecipients. An analysis by Ohio State University scientist Jay Zagorsky found that the longer women stayed on food stamps, the more weight they gained.<\/p>\n

But the USDA does not seem to care whether it’s misfeeding or overfeeding low-income Americans. The department’s inspector general reported in June that most subsidized households receive benefits from more than one federal food program\u2014even though the amount of federal food stamps provided to people with virtually no income is intended to ensure 100% of calorie needs. The inspector recommended that the USDA study the impact of “providing overlapping benefits” to recipients, but the department rejected the proposal because “it would divert limited resources away from other pressing issues of greater policy relevance.”<\/p>\n

Several states and New York City petitioned the USDA to permit them to modify the program to prevent food stamps from being used for junk food. The Center for Science in the Public Interest estimates that recipients spend $4 billion worth of food stamps a year on soft drinks. Catherine Templeton, director of South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, declared, “I am charged with finding ways to address the obesity epidemic in South Carolina. One way is by reducing the poor quality of nutrition available under the [food-stamp program].”<\/p>\n

For many supporters of the program, enabling poor people to buy sodas and chips is a human-rights issue. Maine state Sen. Margaret Craven declared, “Treating people who are poor differently undermines their humanity and undermines our humanity for treating them that way.” Edward Cooney, executive director of the federally funded Congressional Hunger Center, claims that restrictions on food stamps’ use would “stigmatize” low-income people, and he asks, “Do we really want the government in our grocery baskets?” This is as inane as the 2009 protest sign, “Keep government hands off my Medicare.” The USDA has rebuffed all efforts to target food stamps for healthful eating.<\/p>\n

Food stamps should be reformed on the model of the Women, Infants, and Children program, which permits beneficiaries to purchase only high-nutrient foods. WIC avoids most of the collateral damage that the food-stamp program inflicts.<\/p>\n

No one is entitled to unlimited freedom of choice in spending other people’s money. The federal government can help those who cannot help themselves without wasting money and fueling a national obesity epidemic.<\/p>\n

Tagline: JAMES BOVARD is the author of Attention Deficit Democracy, Lost Rights, and eight other books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

, November 23, 2013 Reform Food Stamps for Good Nutrition By JAMES BOVARD The Agriculture Department should reform the food-stamp program to permit beneficiaries to purchase only high-nutrient foods. 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