2009 Stimulus Act Boosted Food Spending Of SNAP Participants

Sep 20, 2016

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was implemented to address the economic crisis following the 2007-09 recession. ARRA temporarily increased benefit levels in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and expanded SNAP eligibility for jobless adults without children.

A recent ERS report examined the effects of the benefit increase on SNAP households’ food purchases in supermarkets, supercenters, and other food retailers (food at home). Quarterly food-at-home spending by SNAP households rose from an average of $502 per household over October 2008 to March 2009 to $550 after April 2009 when ARRA was implemented. SNAP households with incomes below $15,000 per year, single-parent SNAP households, and SNAP households with an unemployed member increased their food-at-home spending in response to the increased benefit levels.

While SNAP benefits can only be used for at-home food purchases, additional benefits can free up cash spent on food for other purchases. The entire benefit increase is generally not spent on food. The ERS analysis found that, on average, SNAP households spent 53 percent of the 2009 ARRA increase on food and the rest on other household needs.

2009 Stimulus Act boosted food spending of SNAP participants

Source:usda.gov

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.