The Policy and Politics of Food Stamps and SNAP

By: Matthew Gritter

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Synopsis: Food Stamps, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), has endured and expanded in recent years. As the largest federal program dealing with food insecurity, it touches the lives of forty million Americans. How is that possible in the age of conservative ascendancy, resistance to federal intervention, and an increasingly threadbare safety net? Food Stamps and SNAP has endured through being included in the Farm Bill, from being characterized as a program for the deserving poor and as a safety net of last resort. At various times these proposal have been promoted by former President George W. Bush and other Republicans. While the program remains intact, it remains vulnerable to challenges institutionally and ideologically. This book seeks to explore and the resilience of Food Stamps/SNAP since the Personal Responsibility Act of 1996. Gritter provides a unique look at a program that ballooned in participation during the 2000s, even prior to the economicrecession that began in December 2007.