ABSTRACT
Policy decisions regarding food production ultimately play out in the marketplace. For most consumers, higher prices in the grocery store are an annoyance that may cause some alteration in buying habits. Hunger is commonplace in the less-developed countries of the Third World, in countries which have been visited far too often by famine and chronic short supplies of food. A broad federal role was not accepted in the United States until the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the enormous numbers of needy people defied a sharp distinction between the ‘worthy’ and ‘un-worthy.’ The need for reform in the Food Stamp Program centers on two crucial components: adequacy of program benefits and expansion of eligibility. The nation would greatly benefit from a public education campaign to improve the image of the Food Stamp and other public assistance programs. The Women, Infants, and Children program is administered by the Food and Nutrition Service of US Department of Agriculture.
