In addition to all of the benefit increases that have passed since the start of the pandemic, the government announced this week that it will “modernize” and increase benefits, to those in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

The Department of Agriculture (USDA), which supervises the program, announced a re-evaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan, a metric used by the government to calculate the SNAP benefits. As a result of this re-evaluation, the average benefit will increase beginning October 1, when the new fiscal year begins. 

The USDA started a review of the Thrifty Food Plan, as directed by the 2018 Farm Bill, and the process was expedited by an executive order by President Joe Biden shortly after he took office. It resulted in the first “cost adjustment” in the programming since 1975. 

“A modernized Thrifty Food Plan is more than a commitment to good nutrition—it’s an investment in our nation’s health, economy, and security,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said as part of the announcement. “Ensuring low-income families have access to a healthy diet helps prevent disease, supports children in the classroom, reduces health care costs, and more. And the additional money families will spend on groceries helps grow the food economy, creating thousands of new jobs along the way.”

The “data-driven” review took into account four “key factors,” according to the USDA announcement: “current food prices, what Americans typically eat, dietary guidance, and the nutrients in food items.” 

“To set SNAP families up for success, we need a Thrifty Food Plan that supports current dietary guidance on a budget,” Stacy Dean, Deputy Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, said in the USDA release. “Too many of our fellow Americans struggle to afford healthy meals. The revised plan is one step toward getting them the support they need to feed their families.”

The change by the USDA has not exactly been met with universal praise. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, in particular, was less than complementary. 

“USDA hilariously says that Americans need to consume more calories because they are fatter. It has also adjusted its food basket to include more protein and dairy, which happen to be food products whose prices are increasing most. Milk prices were up 6.2% year-over-year in July and meat 5.9%,” the newspaper said. 

“Like other Great Society programs, food stamps have done nothing to reduce poverty and little to improve public health. They have encouraged government dependency, which is the Democrats’ political goal. Recall how Democrats fought attempts by the Trump Administration and GOP states to modestly tighten work requirements and eligibility rules. Between 2016 and 2019, the food-stamp rolls shrank by nineteen percent and benefit spending fell sixteen percent.” 

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters