Increasing SNAP food payments is a time-tested strategy for priming the economy during downturns because recipients spend the dollars immediately. Unlike stimulus projects that involve infrastructure, no blueprints need to be drawn up or construction permits obtained before money flows into the economy. And the multiplier effects are substantial. The Department of Agriculture estimates that every additional dollar in food benefits generates $1.84 in economic activity – and that every $5 billion in new SNAP dollars will create some 82,000 jobs. (For those who don't recognize SNAP, that's the new name for food stamps, which took effect in October as part of the updated Farm Bill.)
There is no question that low-income residents need more resources to feed their families, but those dollars should flow into a redesigned food system. With the right local policies that enable SNAP recipients to spend their benefits on healthier, locally produced fare, these food dollars can become another "stimulus" toward building an urban food system for the 21st century. Across New York City, we have too many neighborhoods where nourishing food is simply unavailable – at the same time that we have many enthusiastic food pioneers who want to plant (not pave) our route to a fresher future.
Now's the time to redouble our efforts to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables, which not only improves the nutritional status of low-income families who suffer disproportionately from diet-related diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart disease – but also supports local farmers throughout the region, helps to sustain agricultural communities, and protects ecologically sensitive areas (like NYC's own Catskill watershed) from harmful development.
In the short run, these policies should include steps to make locally grown fruits and vegetables more accessible to SNAP recipients and others living in low-income neighborhoods. Many neighborhoods in New York City lack even the most rudimentary food stores. In a recent survey of supermarket density in New York, the Department of City Planning has found that an estimated three million residents – more than one-third of New Yorkers – live in neighborhoods with insufficient supermarkets or groceries that sell fresh fruits and vegetables.
Farmers markets can help to fill this gap during the growing season, and their popularity in even the poorest neighborhoods demonstrates strong unmet demand for fresh produce in a wide range of communities. By enabling producers to sell directly to consumers with no middlemen, these markets often sell produce and fruits that are fresher and less expensive than food sold in supermarkets and bodegas.
