SUMMARY

SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), formerly known as food stamps, is one of the nation’s largest welfare programs helping to feed more than 40 million low-income Americans. But for people in need, what that assistance looks like, and who can access it, varies greatly across the country.

View the transcript of the story.

News alternative: Check out recent segments from the NewsHour, and choose the story you’re most interested in watching. You can make a Google doc copy of discussion questions that work for any of the stories here.

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

• Who are the individuals featured in this story?
• How does SNAP help people?
• Where is SNAP used?
• When did the SNAP program first start? What about food stamps?
• Why did elected officials in five states make it so that single parents must seek child support in order to receive SNAP benefits?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

Do you think elected officials should make it harder or easier for people like the women featured in this story to get on SNAP? Explain. Note: With 40 million Americans using SNAP to buy food, there is a good chance that someone you know uses SNAP or perhaps they might be on SNAP, but you'd never know it. Does this change how you'd answer the first question? Explain.

Media literacy: Why do you think the NewsHour decided to interview SNAP recipients?

Alternative: See, Think, Wonder: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to find out more about?

FOR MORE

What students can do: Learn more about the history of SNAP in the United States and why elected officials created this program. What other government programs have been created to help the public? (Hint: If you attend public school or a private school that receives state vouchers, what do you know about the role the government has played in your education?)

Connections to FDR's New Deal:

Official start of food stamps under Sec. Wallace:

LBJ's role in SNAP:

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