Food stamp programs

Dion, M. R., and L. Pavetti. 2000. Access to and Participation in Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program A Review of the Recent Literature. Washington, DC Mathematica Policy Research. 

Rosso, R. 2001. Trends in Food Stamp Program Participation Rates 1994 to 1999. Alexandria, VA United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. 

The permanent Food Stamp Program (FSP) was established in 1964 and has remained a federal entitlement for low income persons and families.20 At the outset... 

U S Department of Agriculture (U SDA )(2008)Food Stamp Program F act Sheet on Resources, Income, and Benefits. USDA, Food and Nutrition Service. Washington, DC. Available at (last accessed on July 8,2008)... 

U.S. Food Stamp Program Brazil s Bolsa Familia program... 

As the benefits provided by the U.S. Food Stamp Program are entirely federally funded but eligibility determination is handled at the local level, the federal government mandates a thorough system of quality control that it has developed to monitor and reduce errors in eligibility. 

Food Stamp Program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families... 

Retail Stores. Several programs deliver in-kind transfers to beneficiaries using food stamps or vouchers, for example, the public distribution system in India and the Food Stamp Program in the United States. Beneficiaries receive their allotted amount of food upon presenting the proper documents, namely, vouchers, passbooks, identity cards, or electronic cards. When the program uses cards, official ration shops or private retail shops can authorize or record the transactions using POS machines or terminals (described in box 5.13). 

Debit Cards, Smart Cards, and Cell Phones. A number of programs are introducing new transaction methods that seek to reduce transaction costs and the use of checks and vouchers. These methods include several types of debit cards and prepaid cards, smart cards, and cell phones. In 1993, the U.S. Food Stamp Program, for example, introduced a system based on smart cards, which is known as electronic benefit transfers, to replace paper vouchers. By December 2002, the system delivered benefits to 90 percent of the 19 million beneficiaries through 145,000 retail stores using POS terminals (O Connor and Silbermann 2003). 

Finally, food stamp programs can include self-targeting elements. In Honduras, the Bono Escolar (Food Stamps for Schoolchildren) benefit was distributed through primary schools in selected areas and the Bono Materno Infantil (Food Stamps for Mothers and Young Children) benefit was distributed at health centers in poor areas thus, targeting was achieved through school attendance by children or the use of health clinics by mothers. Alternatively, such programs can impose limitations on the types of commodities that can be purchased with the stamps, as in Jamaica. 

Food stamp programs are often managed by the ministry of welfare as in Jamaica before 2002 or the ministry of agriculture as in the United States. Some countries use a combination of ministries, including the ministry of health as in the distribution of some of the benefits distributed by the Programa de Asignacion Familiar (Family Allowance Program) in Honduras. 

Distribution costs tend to be higher for food stamp programs than for cash programs. In addition, food stamps are more likely to be subject to theft and fraud than food or cash, and because the use of food stamps is restricted, they are less desirable than cash. 

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