Promoting dignity and autonomy in NSLP and WIC: Lessons learned from the success of SNAP

Craig Gundersen

Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 2025, vol. 47, issue 1, 80-96

Abstract: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is by far the largest of food assistance programs in the U.S. Given its size, there is an expectation it should succeed and an extensive literature has demonstrated its success in improving the well‐being of recipients across numerous dimensions. Its success and popularity is due to many factors but what is especially important is its promotion of the dignity of recipients and allowing for the autonomy of recipients' choices. In contrast, two other well‐known food assistance programs run by the USDA, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), have imposed hurdles to the goals of dignity and autonomy which have led to many potential participants foregoing benefits. This article begins with a review of each of these three programs. After this review, I discuss how the lessons learned from the success of SNAP can be leveraged by NSLP and WIC.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13496

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:47:y:2025:i:1:p:80-96

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy from John Wiley & Sons
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().