Today, around 46 million low income Americans receive modern age food stamps – electronic benefits transfers, EBT for short, from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. As of now recipients have somewhat of a choice for the food they want to buy without the government deciding for them, but that could all change.
The Trump administrations new plan for budget cuts propose a replacement for more than 40 percent of SNAPs benefits by giving recipients a Harvest Box with non-perishable foods selected and distributed by the government to your front door.
The new proposal brings more questions than solutions – What about parents with children who are picky eaters? People with dietary or religious restrictions? Who would be boxing and delivering the food? Wouldn’t this be much more expensive than using EBT transfer?
The idea is clearly not in service of the free-market ideal to displace the private food sector and replace it with a government run distribution system. This is the kind of thing you would find in a country just coming out of a socialist state. In India, for example, the government buys around 30 percent of the country's grains at above- market price to then sell it below-market price in ration shops. Trump's plan to deliver food in a box is no innovation.
In the late 1980's, the USDA commissioned a serious of rigorous, randomized controlled trials determining what would happen if people received money rather than food stamps. The tests showed that the recipients receiving money spent a little bit more on housing and clothing and less money on food. In all, malnutrition rates were no worse than the people on food stamps. The trial results seemed positive for the recipients but in the end the food stamp policy did not change. The reason for this was most likely since the people who receive food stamps must spend it on food which wasn’t better for the low-income households, but for agribusiness.
Food stamps, delivered via EBT, gives recipients flexibility in the food they wish to buy instead of the food the farming industry wants to get rid of.
The Harvest Boxes could change this all.
After President Trump took office, 10 of the largest agricultural lobby groups wrote to him about the attack of their subsidies from previous administrations and urged him to prioritize the use of American grown food.
The Harvest Box was his response to their plea for change.