The Trump administration’s idea of delivering millions of food boxes each month to federal food stamp recipients is an “innovation” that will help the government save billions of dollars over the next decade, according to a senior USDA official.
“In Washington, it is a favorite pastime to criticize new ideas and claim they won’t work,” wrote Brandon Lipps, acting deputy undersecretary for USDA’s Food Nutrition and Consumer Services, in an op-ed for USA Today. “But innovation has always been one of the keys to success, and innovation is what America’s Harvest Boxes represent.”
The administration is proposing to deliver some federal food stamp benefits in the form of cereal, pasta and other food that the government buys in huge quantities at wholesale prices. Under the program, recipients would still be able to buy some of their own food using their Electronic Benefits Card, and the box of food sent by the government would supplement the EBT card.
The proposal has been mocked by many who believe the government wouldn’t be able to handle the huge logistical task of keeping track of the millions of people in the program and shipping them a box each month. Critics have also said it would take twice the amount of government to deliver food boxes and EBT cards, and give food stamp recipients less choice.
Lipps said the program is possible and feasible, but acknowledged it will be up to states to figure out how to get food to the people.
“As true laboratories of innovation, states can determine their own methods of connecting people with their Harvest Boxes” he wrote. “Some may choose to partner with non-profits or the private sector to arrange for boxes to be picked up at non-profit or retail outlets, while others may work with private sector innovators to deliver boxes to doorsteps.”
Lipps said beneficiaries would still be able to make their own choices, and said the idea is estimated to save $129 billion over the next decade.
“This commonsense proposal is a win for SNAP recipients, taxpayers and farmers,” he wrote, referencing the formal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by its formal name.
Lipps’ op-ed ran alongside a commentary from the USA Today editorial board that said the idea is one that “Karl Marx would approve.”
