Cutting federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly called “food stamps,” is serious business anywhere in the U.S., but in no state is it more consequential than in Mississippi.
The reduction in SNAP participation is part of President Trump’s “One
Big Beautiful Bill” reconciliation act, enacted in 2025. Since that
time, SNAP participation is down 11% or more than 4.5 million Americans.
In Mississippi, SNAP participation is down by
43,000 or 12.04%.
Cutting domestic spending was the intent of the OBBBA. In Mississippi in
2024, the State Department of Human Services reported that 390,761
individuals received $857.8 million in SNAP benefits. OBBBA applied work
requirements to the program, which most Mississippians
favor. But advocates said the bill would cut total food assistance
spending by $300 billion.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would remove
three million Americans from the program and reduce government spending
by over $92 billion over 10 years. Actual participation rate drops so
far suggest CBO undershot that prediction.
One group that pushed back against the cuts was the National Grocers
Association: “SNAP provides access to fresh and nutritious food for over
41 million Americans, including over 14 million children, 1.2 million
veterans, and 6.5 million seniors. SNAP funding
also supports over 300,000 American jobs throughout the food supply
chain and across the U.S. From farmers and truckers to local grocers,
for every $1 invested in SNAP, $1.79 of economic activity is generated
in communities nationwide, making it a highly effective
and incredibly efficient government program.”
The debate rages over the propriety of the food assistance spending
cuts. But whether liberal or conservative in one’s views about SNAP, the
fact is that a program that was born in 1939 as a way to get surplus
food to the hungry has grown far faster and larger
than has the American population.
In truth, SNAP participation has risen and fallen with recessions,
changing poverty rates, changing eligibility rules, and federal
government policy changes over the decades. The U.S. population growth
was steadier and more consistent.
At the peak of the first food stamp program in 1939, some four million
participants out of the total 132.2 million Americans used the program.
Moving forward, the U.S. population increased from about 132.2 million
to roughly 340 million, an increase of approximately
157%.
SNAP/Food Stamp participation increased from a peak of about 4 million
participants in the original program to 41.7 million participants in FY
2024, an increase of 940%. Viewed strictly in terms of raw numbers, SNAP
participation has clearly grown much faster
than the population.
A more meaningful measure is the percentage of Americans receiving
benefits. During the original 1939-1943 Food Stamp Program, peak
participation of 4 million represented about 3% of the U.S. population.
In FY 2024, SNAP served 41.7 million people, equal to
12.3% of U.S. residents.
The all-time modern peak occurred around 2013, when SNAP participation
reached nearly 48 million Americans, or roughly 15% of the population.
So, political philosophy aside, the share of Americans receiving food
assistance is substantially higher today than
during the original program.
That increase doesn’t necessarily mean poverty increased proportionally.
Several factors contributed, including program expansions, broader
eligibility rules, population aging and demographic changes, and the
emergence of electronic benefits or EBT.
Over the period from 1939 to the present, SNAP/Food Stamp participation
has grown much faster than the U.S. population. The population grew
about 2.6 times, while SNAP participation grew roughly 10 times from the
original program's peak level. The percentage
of Americans receiving benefits also increased from roughly 3% to about
12%, with a peak near 15% during the aftermath of the Great Recession.
That’s not fiscally sustainable. So, the question remains: What do
Americans want SNAP to be? The temporary, transitory food assistance
program it was created to be or the permanent entitlement program it has
become?
Food stamp spending and participation growth over eight decades has been
facilitated by Democrats and Republicans alike. Despite current
rhetoric, history makes clear that both parties share responsibility for
where we are and where we’re going on the food
stamp question.
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.
9 comments:
Trump doesn't care about anyone except himself. His attitude is "let them eat shit-drenched iceberg lettuce'.
We have to starve able bodied people enough to make them get a job. We have too many that won't work, or work very few hours. They don't want to lose those government benefits.
SNAP is a program that guarantees hundreds of Billions of tax dollars go into agricorp owned mega farms (many of which are now foreign owned) plus giga-sized retailers like Walmart and Amazon, while the majority of the taxpayer's ire is directed toward the poor who benefit in the amount of a single billion or two. While I hate the idea of fat lazy welfare queens soaking up $30k a year in SNAP benifits, the lack of concern about the enormous corporate welfare side of the equation is willfully ignorant at the best, hypocritical at worst.
Voted for Trum twice, but yes - he only cares about corporate welfare now. He probably cashed himself in on the activity below.
Apple received an estimated $2.2 billion ($2.19 billion) tariff refund in its third fiscal quarter of 2026. The windfall followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier in the year that invalidated previous sweeping executive tariffs. The rebate boosted Apple's earnings per share by $0.11 and lifted gross margins by roughly 2 percentage points.
Thanks, but being anonymously indignant isn't enough. What is your solution?
Don't forget the dollar stores selling sugary junk food to morbidly obese people who can't afford health care or whole foods.
Many years ago the people had to go get real groceries once a month. Where I lived the people went to the city hall to pick up the groceries. You were given real groceries. Meat, cheese, dried eggs, beans, rice. Real groceries. You had to furnish your own containers to put the groceries in. Not much was wasted or sold.
Today the people get money on a credit card type thing. There used to be a store in Jackson that would tell the people what he needed for them to buy so he could buy it from then for fifty cents on the dollar. He then resold it in his store. There is a lot of theft involved in it.
Food stamps was started more to help the farmers. Groceries were cheap and farmers didn't get much for their crops. The politicians decided they would buy the crops from the farmers at a higher price then give it away to needy families. It wasn't such a bad idea at the time but pretty much like everything the politicians come up with there had to be a way to steal some money. Now it is a money maker for all kinds of crooks.
You could donate your money to help them?
I cannot speak for Trump or anyone else, but I know I am sick and tired of money that I earn being confiscated and given to people who do not work. I have no problem with people who need these benefits in order to survive. But the abuse and waste has got to stop.
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