Student reacts to SNAP reform proposal

What caught my attention and I have a strong view on this policy is the SNAP proposal that President Trump has recommended for the 2019 budget.  I have read multiple articles on this policy and I will go through each of them with pros and cons.  

While doing homework over this past week I was looking at one of the UIS sites you have created for this class.  I found a policies website and was looking around at the articles that they had the one that caught my attention was the one about SNAP.  The website is the center on budget and policy priorities and the article I read was “President’s Budget Would Cut Food Assistance for Millions and Radically Restructure SNAP”.  In this article it talks about how the president proposed to alter the SNAP program to save billions of dollars over a ten-year period.  The budget proposes to cut the SNAP program by more than $213 billion over the next ten years   This would cut eligibility to four million people and reduce benefits for others.  The president also wants to reduce SNAP by doing a food delivery program like the Blue Apron program.  Here are some of the cons that I see based on this budget proposal.

1. This proposal does not have dietary restrictions in mind when doing the food box delivery.
2. The next con I see is that he is raising the maximum benefit amount from 49 to 62 which will cause food insecurity to many elderly and disabled persons. The Trump proposal was to raise the age of exemption from time limits from 49 to 62.  Currently, able-bodied persons of sound mind who have no minor children aged 18 to 49 are only allowed to participate in SNAP for at most three months in any 3-year (36 month) period.  Trump thinks that persons aged 39 to 62 should also be subject to this time limitation (when they are able-bodied, of sound mind, and have no minor children). 
3. Third con is that they leave the delivery and costs to each state.  The state is supposed to cover the cost of distribution and delivery of these food boxes.
4. Fourth con is that people who do receive SNAP will not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. The box of food that the state would ship to the beneficiaries would not have fresh fruit and vegetables, but my understanding is that families would still have a (small) portion of their benefit provided in traditional credits on a sort of "debit" card like our Illinois Link card. 
5. Another con is that the boxes will contain a pre-portioned number of items of all processed food and does not include meat other than canned meat.
6. I feel that this would cause a social stigma for the people who receive these boxes.  It will also cause the delivery of thousands of heavy boxes and what happens if the boxes don’t get delivered or get stolen where does that leave the recipient?
7. This proposal would get rid of SNAP nutrition education.

The next thing I'll list are the pros of this budget

1. This budget could create additional jobs for the packing of boxes.
2. A nutritionist would manage the food going into the boxes and it could mean more healthy and nutrient dense foods.
3. These boxes would be delivered to people’s homes which would help those who are disabled and those that do not have transportation.
4. It could be cheaper with buying the food wholesale instead of each person going to the grocery store themselves.

I see more cons than pros with this budget.  Whether you’re from the left side or the right side there are a lot of issues that are not met with this proposal.  The other thing with this proposal is that the president is trying to make cuts and strict regulations on all safety net programs that help low income people.  

This proposal will be very hard to pass through Congress, and the money that is cut would be used for military.  Maybe the government can come up with a better replacement for the SNAP food box proposal.  

According to an article I read, Maine's governor Paul LePage threated to remove his state from SNAP if the USDA did not allow him to restrict the purchases of sugary food and drinks.  Wisconsin governor Scott Walker wants to drug test any adult who receives food aid.  There is a big social stigma against people who receive SNAP and a lot of people make judgements and stereotype everyone in the same category.  That they are all drug addicts, and lazy people who don’t want to work.  

I am very opinionated when it comes to speaking about things or talking about subjects that are important to me.  These cuts would affect my family with SNAP.  While I’m in school and raising two kids, money is very tight and without SNAP my family would not be able to eat.  I already must choose between which bill is going to get paid first; if I had to choose between bills and food that would be even more stressful.  I am glad for all the safety net programs in the country.  They help a lot of families who otherwise would struggle immensely.