the food stamp card came out in the late 1990s.
when did the food stamp card come out?
the late 1990s
for most of its history, the food stamp program used paper denominated stamps or coupons worth us$1 (brown), $5 (blue), and $10 (green). in the late 1990s, the food-stamp program was revamped, and stamps were phased out in favor of a specialized debit-card system known as electronic benefit transfer (ebt) provided by private contractors. many states merged the use of the ebt card for public-assistance welfare programs as well. the 2008 farm bill renamed the food stamp program as the supplemental nutrition assistance program (as of october 2008), and replaced all references to "stamp" or "coupon" in federal law to "card" or "ebt."
electronic benefit transfer
the food stamp challenge ignores the "supplemental" portion of the snap program, which does not intend for snap benefits to be the only source of food. 75% of snap participants use their own money to purchase some of their food, and the remaining 25% would receive benefits larger than the average employed in the food stamp challenge. only 20% of snap beneficiaries have no income; for those with income, families are expected to contribute 30% of income to their food budget. therefore, snap benefits and the expected family contribution (efc) always equal the maximum benefit ($668 for a family of four). food stamp challenges challenges therefore result in menus bearing little resemblance to the usda official food plans calculated on the maximum benefit because they ignore the effect of the expected family contribution.
food stamp challenge