The first book to tell the whole story of SNAP and to explain why all Americans should support it.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the nation’s largest government effort for helping low-income Americans obtain an adequate diet. How did SNAP, formerly the food stamp program, evolve from a Depression-era effort to use up surplus goods into America’s foundational food assistance program? And how does SNAP survive? Incisive and original, Why SNAP Works is the first book to provide a comprehensive history and evaluation of the nation’s most important food insecurity and poverty alleviation effort.
Everyone has an opinion about SNAP, not all of them positive, but its benefits are felt broadly and across party lines. Christopher Bosso makes a clear, nuanced, and impassioned case for protecting this unique food program, exploring its history and breaking down the facts for readers across the political spectrum. Why SNAP Works is an essential book for anyone concerned about food access, poverty, and the “welfare system” in the United States.
Why SNAP Works A Political History—and Defense—of the Food Stamp Program
About the Book
Reviews
"This book is a crucial read for anyone interested in understanding food accessibility and welfare in the United States. . . . Christopher Bosso provides a balanced analysis of SNAP, shedding light on its far-reaching benefits and making a persuasive case for its continued support."—Food Tank"Why SNAP Works is a lively, up-to-the-minute account of the history of the program formerly known as food stamps, contested from its onset. Christopher Bosso’s compelling explanation of the reasons SNAP survived, and deserves to survive, in the face of so much opposition, makes his book a must-read."—Marion Nestle, author of Slow Cooked: An Unexpected Life in Food Politics
"A one-stop shop for SNAP history."—Parke Wilde, Friedman School, Tufts University
“What makes this work original and important is that it traces this history in a single volume and brings the story up to present. Bosso has excellent underlying scholarship and also relies on an impressive foundation of primary documents.”—Adam Sheingate, author of Building a Business of Politics: The Rise of Political Consulting and the Transformation of American Democracy
“This is an original book, and its assertions about SNAP politics and substance are fresh and new.”—Rebecca Harris, author of Party Food: A Partisan History of Food & Farming Policy in America
Table of Contents
Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
1. Tales at the Intersection of Want and Plenty
2. “To Encourage Domestic Consumption”
3. The Paradox Anew
4. Farm Programs + Food Programs
5. Welfare Politics
6. Let Us Now Praise the Food Stamp Plan
Appendix: Table 1. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program participation and costs, 1961–2022
Chronology: Key Moments in Food Stamps and the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Notes
Suggested Reading
Index
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