Feeding the Hungry with Food Stamp Programs

The Food Stamp Program was a federal aid program that started in 1939 to allow poor and unemployed people to purchase food and to assist farmers by consuming surplus crops. The color-coded stamp program provided orange and blue stamps that could be exchanged for groceries. Originally, eligible participants purchased orange stamps that could be used to the purchase any type of food. For every dollar of orange stamps purchased, participants received fifty cents worth of blue stamps, which could be used to purchase food the US Government labeled as surplus. By the late 1990s, most states had phased out actual stamps in favor of a debit card system known as Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT).

The Food Stamp Program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been amended several times since its inception, experiencing periods of growth in the 1960s and early 1970s and restriction in the 1980s. Participation in the programs have varied throughout its history with greater need during economic downturns, recessions, and temporary disasters. SNAP remains a crucial governmental assistance program to those living below poverty levels, with 46.5 million people in 22.7 million households receiving benefits as of September 2014.

Chicago citation style
Melissa Jacobs. Feeding the Hungry with Food Stamp Programs. 2016. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://production.dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs. (Accessed March 19, 2024.)
APA citation style
Melissa Jacobs, (2016) Feeding the Hungry with Food Stamp Programs. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America, https://production.dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs
MLA citation style
Melissa Jacobs. Retrieved from the Digital Public Library of America <https://production.dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs>.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.