Food Stamps

Since 2008, the food stamp program has doubled in size, now hosting 49 million Americans for benefits on a monthly basis. The cost associated with the program has risen dramatically, with the federal government now spending $75 billion per year on food stamps in comparison to $36 billion in 2008 based on information from a recent Department of Agriculture report focused on the issue of trafficking.

The report claims that this ‘trafficking’ occurs when SNAP recipients choose to sell their benefits for cash to various food retailers, usually at a discount. Although the report didn’t determine that the problem was growing in proportional terms, the growth of the program itself can mean that the small ratios of fraud occurring are also producing noteworthy losses for the government in terms of funding. The value of trafficked food stamp cards was estimated to be at $858 million a year in the study, which is risen from the $330 million that was listed annually during the 2006-2008 study.

The report also found that 10.5 percent of participating stores had engaged in this form of trafficking and that 85 percent of those were small outlet stores, which are much more difficult for the government to police. Fox News Online cited that although there was an increase in raw numbers found in trafficking, the trafficking had actually declined since the period of the 1990s. During that period, the rate was nearly 4 percent of food stamp benefits. Based on the differing information from the report and various news sources, some would say that the occurrence of food stamp fraud was being exaggerated, even though it remains to be a prominent issue for the government in terms of losses and possible funding cuts. Some also noted that the information provided in the report should have been given more context.

There are many states that are trying to improve the oversight on the food stamp program and work towards preventing food stamp fraud from being a continual issue, even if it is not frequent. The program has grown so much that even some of the smaller losses can still become political and fiscal concerns in the long run. Oregon has established a legislative working group to help explore more of the elements that can be used to control fraud. The goal is to find options that would be cost-effective for the state and would not be a burden for food stamp recipients.

Over the years, the food stamp program has gained a stigma associated with reports that have detailed evidence showing that people were committing crimes by collecting food stamp benefits that weren’t addressed to them, selling benefits for cash or non-food items, using benefits as an exchange for rent, or even selling the benefits for drugs. However, it’s important to understand that these instances do not reflect the recipients of the program as a whole. There is a small percentage of fraud occurrences within the program, many of which are being policed on a regular basis as much as possible.