Food Stamps are an important subsidy for poor families in the United States. The program began (in its most basic form) in the 1930s in response to the Great Depression and has seen many transformations since. Its original goal was to redistribute agricultural surpluses to needy individuals. It gained popularity in the early 1940s and in 1961, Congress launched a pilot program. The program became permanent under President Johnson's Food Stamp Act of 1964. At this time there were 1.4 million participants. By 1977 all states were required to provide Food Stamps to their underprivileged residents (Senauer). This plan eventually led to the arrangement in place today.

The Food Stamp Program is an in-kind government transfer. This means that the recipients are not directly given cash, rather they receive coupons (nowadays, a plastic card) that can only be exchanged for certain items. This guarantees that...