US History

The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)

Law and Government

This collection uses primary sources to explore the history of US food stamp programs.

A photograph of someone purchasing food stamps in Los Angeles, California, 1940.

An excerpt from a 1940 booklet describing the use of blue food stamps under the Food Stamp Program.

A 1972 pamphlet by the US Department of Agriculture describing reforms to the Food Stamp Program after legislation of January 11, 1971.

A 1975 booklet by the US Department of Agriculture for shoppers using food stamps, including tips on “how to shop, store, and use foods.”

A photograph of a grocery store in 1940 with a display for food stamp recipients, including a sign saying “Orange and Blue Stamps Redeemed.”

A 1939 political cartoon depicting President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s introduction of the Food Stamp Program to Congress.

The cartoon is called, “Bluntly, He’d Rather Not Have That Bozo Introduced.” Congress is acting aloof and not “accepting new acquaintances.”


A photograph of applicants for the Food Stamp Program in 1940. 

A photograph of surplus commodities ca. 1936.

Signs read “This is one of the U.S. Government Surplus Foods” and “17 Foods at Big Bargains.”

A television news clip from April 18, 1961 discussing “food paper money” in a pilot food stamps program for eight parts of the country.

An excerpt from analysis by the US Dept. of Agriculture on the impact of federal food subsidy programs, 2012.

Questions

1. Using the [1940 booklet](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs/sources/937), [1972 pamphlet](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs/sources/938), and [1975 booklet](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs/sources/939), describe the original Food Stamp Program established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the New Deal and discuss how the program has transformed over time. How would you compare and contrast the program of the 1940s with the program of the 1970s and today’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)? How would you improve today’s SNAP program? 
2. Using the [1972 pamphlet](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs/sources/938), explain why you think reforms were needed to the Food Program of 1964. Do you think the reforms were successful? Why or why not? 
3. Using the [1940 booklet](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs/sources/937) and the [2012 analysis](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs/sources/945), explain whether or not you think that food stamp programs play a critical role in alleviating poverty. 
4. Based on the [1939 political cartoon](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/feeding-the-hungry-with-food-stamp-programs/sources/941), why do you think Congress presented opposition to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s food subsidy program? 


Activity

Divide the class into small groups with some students using 1939 resources and others using guidelines from today’s SNAP. Provide a week’s worth of food coupons to each group. Using the appropriate guidelines for each era, ask students to develop a shopping list and a week’s list of meals to feed a family of four based on research about the price of food in the late 1930s. Does each group have enough food stamps to feed the entire family? Are each of the meals balanced? Was each group able to purchase everything it needed? Why did each group choose the items purchased? 


Teaching Guide: Exploring the History of Food Stamp Programs

Resources

1. [*America’s Great Depression and Roosevelt’s New Deal*](http://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/new-deal) online exhibit, Digital Public Library of America.  
2. “[The History of SNAP](http://www.snaptohealth.org/snap/the-history-of-snap/)” timeline, SNAP to Health. 
3. “[A History of Food Stamps Use and Policy](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/11/us/FOODSTAMPS.html?_r=0)” timeline, *The New York Times*. 
4. [A Short History of SNAP](http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/short-history-snap), US Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. 

Overview

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.

English

Feeding the Hungry with Food Stamp Programs

feeding-hungry-food-stamp-programs_05_1ebcd2374fbd7f800448956f47fe34be.jpg

Courtesy of University of Southern California Libraries.

“Presenting check to Sam Seelig at Seelig Market, Inglewood, CA, 1940,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/1ebcd2374fbd7f800448956f47fe34be.

A photograph of a grocery store in 1940 with a display for food stamp recipients, including a sign saying “Orange and Blue Stamps Redeemed.”

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 5 of 10 in the Primary Source Set Feeding the Hungry with Food Stamp Programs