Should we replace food stamps with a Blue Apron-style food delivery box?

The Trump administration wants to deliver "Blue Apron-style" food to the poor in lieu of food stamps. According to Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, the proposal would replace nearly half of poor Americans' monthly cash benefits with a box of food called "America's Harvest Box." Some think this is a terrible idea. A food box would be more expensive, difficult to manage and take choice away from families. But others argue it's a solid alternative to the antiquated food stamp program. What do you think? 

PERSPECTIVES

The Trump administration wants to deliver "Blue Apron-style" food to the poor in place of food stamps. According to Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, the proposal would replace nearly half of poor Americans' monthly cash benefits with a box of food called "America's Harvest Box."

The USDA America's Harvest Box would apparently include nutritious food grown and produced in the U.S. such as "milk, juice, grains, cereals, pasta, peanut butter, beans, canned meat, poultry or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables." The box would only be valued at half the recipient's monthly benefit, so the remaining amount would be given on electric benefit card as before.

Many think the Blue Apron-style "America's Harvest Box" is a great idea. It would promote a nutritious diet, help American farmers by including 100% American-grown products and the private-public partnership potential means it could ultimately become a more efficient way of delivering food to the poor.

Some believe critics are only hostile toward the idea because they hate Trump.

But other's argue "America's Harvest Box" is a ridiculous and terrible idea. For starters, food stamps currently only provide recipients with about $90 a month to spend on food. Creating an entire apparatus to deliver food would undoubtedly be more expensive.

Not to mention dietary restrictions and allergies make a one-box-fits-all approach unworkable. Food stamps allow families to choose what they want to eat, "America's Harvest Box" would take that choice away.  It's a simplistic idea to a difficult problem.

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