Background

Some people, often through no fault of their own, due to a poor economy or physical/mental health issues, fall on hard times and are unable to provide for themselves and/or their families. Lending a helping hand is one of the generous acts of compassion for which Americans are well known.

Historically, food assistance to the downtrodden was provided by relatives, churches, private charities, and nonprofit food banks. Government began taking over the nutrition task with food programs dating back to the Great Depression (1929 to 1937) and culminating in a nationwide Food Stamp Program enacted by the Food Stamp Act of 1977.

In 2008, for psychologically-cosmetic reasons, the name of the Federal program was changed to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the name of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 was changed to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008.

Printed Food Stamps were replaced by Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) “debit cards" issued to recipients that electronically transfer government benefits to retailers to pay for purchases.

As of 2015, SNAP participation grew to 45 million persons at an annual cost of $70B.

Fraud and Abuse Issues

SNAP is abused through: trafficking, ineligible recipients, falsified applications, and fraudulent merchandisers.

• Popular websites, e.g., eBay, Craigslist, Facebook and Twitter, have advertised the potential sale of SNAP benefits in exchange for cash.
• Retailers disqualified from SNAP for past abuse lie on re-application to get in the program again.
• Foodstuffs purchased with EBT cards are shipped out of the U.S. to relatives of recipients.
• EBT cards have been used to purchase food and non-food items aboard cruise ships and at resorts.

Fraud costs billions of dollars each year.

While fraud and abuse are significant, Bob The Engineer believes the most disturbing problems are:

• Nutrition – SNAP fails to providing nutrition, one of SNAP's primary goals
• Dependency – Instead of a temporary safety net, SNAP has also created long-term dependents

Nutrition Issues

By definition, "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program" (SNAP) has a goal of providing nutrition to low-income persons. However, SNAP recipients spend billions of dollars of benefits to buy fast food, which hardly qualifies as quality nutrition.

“Fast food has become a major source of nutrition in low-income, urban neighborhoods across the United States." "The overabundance of fast food and lack of access to healthier foods, in turn, have increased African American and Latino communities' vulnerability to food-related death and disease. Structural perpetuation of this race- and class-based health crisis constitutes ‘food oppression.’ ”

Nutrition and Food Police

Various self-appointed dietary authoritarians (fondly referred to as “Food Police”), range from individuals (e.g., former NYC Mayor/billionaire Michael Bloomberg and Michelle Obama) to cities (e.g., San Francisco) to international organizations (e.g., World Health Organization) have attempted to impose their dietary values on the public through excessive taxation and/or force of law.

While he was NYC Mayor, Mr. Bloomberg attempted to ban the sale of large “sugary drinks” at movie theaters, restaurants, sports arenas, and coffee houses.

Data point: Mr. Bloomberg, while seeking to ban drinks like Starbucks’ Frappuccinos, for unexplained reasons, apparently thinks it OK to go next door and buy a fifth of whisky. Just data – draw your own conclusions.

Admirably, Michelle Obama pursued healthier school lunches, an effort that unfortunately failed and resulted in volumes uneaten food. (photos of Michelle’s “healthy” school lunches posted on social media by school students looked so inedible, the photos went viral, as the food went to waste.) Feeble implementation - no direct fault of Ms. Obama.

Data point: Ms. Obama, a millionaire, sends her own children to an exceedingly prestigious private school (Sidwell Friends School) where school lunches are selected from a menu of gourmet offerings. Just data – draw your own conclusions.

Bob’s Healthy To The Home solution substitutes super healthy meals in the form of Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) for fraud-prone EBT debit cards.

While fraud and abuse are significant issues, Bob The Engineer believes the most troubling problems are:

• Nutrition – SNAP dramatically fails in providing nutrition, one of its primary stated goals
• Dependency – Instead of a temporary safety net, SNAP has created long-term dependents

Healthy To The Home solves these problems:

• Abuse – Not a 5-star dining experience, MREs self-restrict SNAP applicants to persons actually needing food
• Fraud – Not much of a black market for MREs
• Access – No longer an issue, healthy meals delivered directly to the door
• Nutrition – MREs are very high in nutritional value
• Dependency – A steady diet of MREs serves to “inspire” SNAP recipients to seek employment/higher paying employment and remove themselves from the program

Key Features of "Healthy To The Home"

What's an MRE?