US Federal Food Stamp Budget Could Feed the Nation

The existing nutrition assistants programs are inefficient, have low coverage, support unhealthy eating behaviors and, in reality, serve as a subsidy for the grocery retail industry. Instead, the federal government should manufacture ready-made convenience meals using agricultural commodities purchased and processed at large scale.

In FY 2020, the federal government spent 114.23 billion on food nutrition services including 85.64 billion on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), 25.75 billion on child nutrition services, and 800 million on “other.” Believe it or not, that’s enough money to buy enough food to feed the nation. Even if you take into account costs related to transport, processing, distribution and storage, 114 billion dollars is enough money to meet the annual nutrition requirements for at least 160 million people, or half the national population.

In the current system, federal programs provide low-income individuals with food-purchasing assistance. Each month, benefits are directly deposited on the recipient’s EBT card, which may be used to purchase food at supermarkets, convenience stores, and other food retailers such as farmers’ markets. Providing nutrition services in the form of cash assistance is inefficient, supports unhealthy eating, and in reality serves as a subsidy for grocery retailers.