Splitting food legislation hurts American public

On Sept. 19, the House of Representatives passed a bill cutting billions of dollars from America’s food stamp program. This measure now accompanies the equally illogical bill passed in July dedicating $8.9 billion — $1.5 billion more than was allotted in 2011 — to farm subsidies. These two bills are pieces of ignorant legislation that harm the poor and support the wealthy.

When farm subsidies first emerged in the 1930s, they seemed like a grand idea. The Great Depression hit rural America hard and farmers needed government support to stay afloat. But since then, the need for farm subsidies has decreased substantially. In fact, the entire concept is outdated. According to The Week, the average farmer had an income of  $87,289 in 2011, which was approximately 29 percent higher than the income of the average American.

Furthermore, some of those receiving subsidies are not farmers at all; many people are paid not to cultivate land that they own in other states, in an effort to keep food prices low. The Week also reported that approximately 75 percent of all farm subsidies go to the biggest 10 percent of farming companies, not to farmers themselves. These supposedly “necessary” farm subsidies have cost taxpayers $168 billion over the last 10 years.

In July, the House passed a bill allocating large sums of money to the farm subsidies program in spite of these realities. Yet when they discussed the issue of food stamps, a program that is usually passed in conjunction with farm subsidies, they concluded that food stamps have gotten out of hand.

Though the U.S. government spends approximately $80 billion a year on the food stamp program (more than eight times what the House is proposing to spend on farm subsidies), this is not because food stamp recipients are living lives of luxury. The average benefit  provided to one individual is $134 a month. This is just enough to help but not nearly enough to make a case that the program is being too generous. Furthermore, though the House insisted that unemployment rates have declined, the U.S. Census Bureau confirmed in a report released on Sept. 17 that approximately 47 million Americans are currently living in poverty. This is one of the highest rates of poverty in two decades.

The bill passed last Thursday would cut $40 billion from the food stamp program over the next ten years. The most recent data on the program confirms that 15.2 percent of Americans use food stamps. Under this legislation, however, the Congressional Budget Office predicts that 4 million people would be removed from the program next year, and three million more every year after that. The recent census report also showed that the program has prevented 4 million people from falling under the poverty line, and helped millions of others from declining even further.

The food stamp program is logical. There is no way to effectively refute that; it successfully supports millions in poverty. The new bill the House has passed is an insult to struggling Americans everywhere. It limits the time over which benefits can be received to three months, an aspect that the House Speaker John Boehner defended in a recent New York Times article.

“This bill makes getting Americans back to work a priority again for our nation’s welfare programs,” he said.

Unfortunately, limiting the amount of time one can receive benefits does not mean the recipient will miraculously find a job more easily.

The most frustrating part of this proposition is that the Congressional Budget Office states that if left on its own, the food stamps program should lose about 14 million recipients over the next 10 years just because of the improving economy. In other words, 30 percent of the recipients they now support would be cut. Essentially, there is no need to cut back on the food stamps program, because soon it will begin to cut back on itself.

In the end, the House became confused over which program deserves the funding. When they separated the bills containing the farm subsidies and food stamp program in July, they made a questionable coalition of bills into an absurd interpretation of what the American public needs.

This is the first time that the farm subsidies bill has been passed without the food stamp program since 1973. There is no need to suggest that farm lobbyists have a fair amount of power in Congress; that’s to be expected. Yet any reasonable person can see that the House is supporting the wrong program. Passed with the food stamp program, the logic of farm subsidies was irrational. Without the food stamp program, the support of farmers with subsidies is downright ridiculous.

Caitlin Plummer is a freshman majoring in print and digital journalism.

Follow Caitlin on Twitter @cplumm05