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January 1, Biden’s Food Stamp Expansion Drives Up Grocery Prices By 15%

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Recent moves by the Biden administration to bolster food stamp benefits by $1 trillion might be tied to a substantial 15% surge in grocery prices, a government watchdog’s findings suggest.

In an attempt to revise the nutritional standards of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2021, the Department of Agriculture expanded its scope by a remarkable 27% from the levels seen before the COVID pandemic.

This observation was put forward by the Foundation for Government Accountability.

From the span of 2019 to 2022, there was a more than twofold surge in program spending, skyrocketing from $4.5 billion in 2019 to an astonishing $11 billion in 2022, as highlighted by the recently released study by the government accountability organization.

Despite the expiration of some emergency provisions, spending reached $8.6 billion in March 2023.

Moreover, an upward trajectory of 5.8% is anticipated for the year.

This uptick in program scope is anticipated to set US taxpayers back by over $1 trillion in the coming ten years, as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office.

The watchdog group claims that the escalation in food stamp expenditure has spurred grocery prices and added to the inflationary pressure.

“USDA cooked their books to hike food stamp benefits by 27% — the largest permanent increase in program history. And they bypassed Congress to do it,” Jonathan Ingram, vice president of policy and research at the Foundation for Government Accountability, told Fox News.

“Data show the Biden administration’s overreach led to massive spikes in grocery prices. They’re feeding inflation, not stopping hunger.”

Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz (Flickr)

The research referenced World Bank’s retail scanner data post the 2008 Great Recession, indicating that with every 12.5% increment in per-capita food stamp spending, food prices surge by 1%.

Labor Department data, which the group analyzed, showed that between December 2019 and March 2023, prices of items like margarine and eggs surged by over 50%, while frozen vegetables saw a 36% price hike.

The Foundation for Government Accountability also posits that by retracting Biden’s expanded food stamp initiative, Congress could potentially recover upwards of $193 billion in taxpayer funds.

roots vegetarian and organic grocery store (2)

This heightened food stamp expenditure is poised to be a pivotal topic in the impending Congressional debates regarding the reauthorization of the Farm Bill, which dictates a spectrum of spending parameters — from food perks for city dwellers to facilitating rural broadband.

While Republicans are advocating for a curtailment in SNAP expenditures, Democrats tread with caution, especially in light of a recent agreement with House Republicans that necessitated work requirements for certain food stamp beneficiaries in exchange for the upliftment of the federal debt cap earlier this year.

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10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Lyn G

    August 31, 2023 at 8:40 am

    Looks like biden is at it again. When will they wise up and impeach him and get
    it over with. It’s obvious he is incompetent and doesn’t know anything about
    economics.

    • The Rebel

      August 31, 2023 at 9:00 am

      and you want that dumb, goofy, cackling old hen, aka Ms. Word Salad, to be the leader of Communist America???? she is next in line——–

  2. SHRW

    August 31, 2023 at 11:43 am

    i shop at a military commissary and prices have increased significantly in the past two years. All meat prices have at least doubled and some have tripled. Dairy products have also risen sharply. This is a big bite out of my fixed budget.

  3. Rat Wrangler

    August 31, 2023 at 11:59 am

    Any and all decisions by a government agency that changes how taxpayer money is spent should be required to have Congressional approval. Changes may take a while, as Congress is a bit behind the times, as indicated by the fact that they have been unable to change minimum wage for 14 years.

  4. Dianna Trembly

    August 31, 2023 at 12:17 pm

    Biden is doing all he can to benefit illegals crossing our borders. This increase in food stamps encourage votes for democrats, as people receiving the benefits don’t want to lose them!
    Of course they will vote for the democratic that keep the easy life coming.

  5. EUGEN

    August 31, 2023 at 12:33 pm

    BIDEN DOES NOT CARE FOR THE AMERICAN CITIZENS. HE IS THE ONE THAT OPENED THE BORDER TO 7 MILLION CRIMINAL ILLEGALS. SPENDING ALL OUR TAX DOLLARS ON THESE LEACHES. TIME TO REMOVE BIDEN BEFORE THERE IS NO MORE AMERICA.BIDEN AND OBAMA ARE ARE WORSE THEN ANY NAZIS. TIME TO CLEAN OUT THE DEMOCRATS.SHAME ON ALL THESE AMERICA HATING CORRUPT CRIMINALS.

  6. mke6080

    August 31, 2023 at 6:18 pm

    !% percent my ass they went up 25 percent and are still going up fk all politixians

  7. mike 6080

    August 31, 2023 at 6:20 pm

    lm sure the illegals are getting them too

  8. mike 6080

    August 31, 2023 at 6:23 pm

    Prices disnt go up by !5% they went up by 25 % and are still going up Im sick of these politicians destroying us and America

  9. Jerry C.

    August 31, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    Anyone who believes this is a moron. The hike in grocery prices has absolutely nothing to do with SNAP benefits (food stamps). It has to do with the pandemic shutdown, which drove-up prices in the first place, and the grocery industry’s greed, which is keeping prices up. As someone who lives on disability and food stamps I can tell you that the program has never really supplied enough to the people enrolled and the real buying power of what we do receive has been cut far beyond what the administration’s extremely lowball inflation numbers would account for. Chunky Chili at Kroger: pre-pandemic, $2.69 a can – presently, $4.99 a can. The real purchase power of my SNAP benefits now is approximately 65% of what it was pre-pandemic and that’s after the small annual increases in benefits. The extra $95-a-month pandemic boost didn’t even cover the inflation and now that it’s gone we are all suffering.

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