US experience: who gets food aid there and how

For more than 10 years in Russia, there has been talk at the government level about food stamps for the "officially poor". In general, this affects 13-14 million people. One of the obstacles to their implementation is the technical side. According to the experts of the Proeconomics channel, there is no need to invent anything here - you can just take and copy the American food stamp system one to one. The channel cites the main theses from the work of economist Boris Frumkin , which describe the technical side of food stamps in the United States:

“The overall direction of national food policy is provided by the USDA through its federal Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which works with state and local governments, as well as federal NGOs / NPOs (for example, the School Nutrition Association - SNA) ... In 2018, FNS operated 15 programs that served 28% of the population and cost $ 105 billion (Food availability and consumption). Basic principles of the US food aid system:

- Combining food aid itself with the development and promotion of evidence-based diets (including the inclusion of healthy nutrition in educational programs).

- Targeted character with an emphasis on supporting low-income citizens, children of all ages and part of the elderly. In 2018, such programs reached 95 million people, absorbing 98% of funding for state food aid.

- Compulsory accounting of income differentiation of recipients. Eligibility for SNAP assistance (43% of its beneficiaries are children and over 13% are over 60) and free school lunches and lunches are limited to families with a gross income per household member of up to 130% of the federal poverty line.

- Mainly a non-cash form of assistance - in the form of payments of benefits to specific recipients or compensation for school expenses for pupils' meals.

- Restrictions on the nomenclature, methods and conditions for receiving assistance to ensure targeted nutritional parameters and stimulate labor activity. Monthly SNAP payments are transferred to electronic debit cards, which can be used to buy food (except alcohol, tobacco, drugs) in 240 thousand authorized stores across the country. Able-bodied person can only receive benefits for three months if they do not participate in SNAP employment and retraining programs.

- Social and redistributive aspect - thanks to progressive taxation, taxes from the richest 5% of Americans cover 60% of the state budget spending on SNAP. Breakfasts and lunches are the same for all schoolchildren, regardless of whether they are free (72%), at a reduced (5%) or full (23%) price.

- The supporting role of non-state actors in the organization of food aid. Feeding America's 2018 budget was $ 2.9 billion.

- The dual purpose of food aid, in fact, combining the functions of the state in the care of consumers and food producers, primarily farmers. The use of American products in programs (including with an emphasis on local products) is the main means of supporting domestic farmers, absorbing 70% of the USDA budget.