The Stamp That's Never Worn Off

Backers of Change Say Food Program's Name Has Outlived Its Accuracy, Nursed Stigma

The young Alexandrian was a big help to friends just getting used to food stamps.

"They would ask, 'Can y'all go in the store for me? Here's my stamps; will you buy the food?' " said the now-grown man, an Alexandria parks employee. "The parents would go sometimes, but if the parents would send them, the kids, they were not used to having food stamps. They would feel ashamed."

Food stamps still can make people feel that way, which is why the phrase "food stamps" has lately become a candidate for getting tossed out of the government's lexicon.

Call food stamps something else, everyone interviewed for this story said, pausing to think about food assistance and the stigma that has endured far longer than the actual stamps.

Of the 14 current and former food stamp users interviewed for this story, all but the Alexandria man, who wanted to be called only by his middle name, Morgan, said they felt uncomfortable being identified by name.

Across the country, in state food stamp agencies and local offices where the hungry apply for assistance, people have rallied arguments to banish the phrase "food stamps."

Number one: There haven't been stamps since 1943. After food stamps (1939 to 1943) came coupons (1961 to 2004) and then cards, but everyone kept saying "food stamps." Number two: Everyone uses electronic debit cards anyway, by a 1996 order of Congress. And three: Enough with the shame.

The renaming effort got a boost from research by government and nonprofit organizations showing that stigma and misinformation were two of the main reasons given by people who qualified for food stamps but did not use them -- two of every five eligible people nationwide, according to a recent Agriculture Department estimate.

The Food Stamp Program could be renamed next year if the Agriculture Department, which has been accepting ideas for new names, submits the issue to Congress in time for its vote on reauthorization of the farm bill. Lawmakers also could consider it as a separate issue.

The public appears to be more than willing to wipe out a phrase coined during the Great Depression to help feed the hungry and to aid farmers, who had more crops and produce than markets could bear.

In Maryland, about 700 people submitted ideas in a 2004 contest sponsored by the Family Investment Administration, which runs a food stamp program that last month had 301,658 people enrolled, using what are called Independence cards for food purchases.

Ideas included Food for All, Meals for Millions and HOOP, an acronym that, the contestant noted, could stand for the Helping Others Out Program.

"There was No Stomach Left Behind, which I thought was kind of cute," said Kevin McGuire, executive director of the administration. "What we did was, we made a little fun. We said, 'Let's do a contest. Let the voice of the people decide.' "

Winning entries went to a regional Agriculture Department office in Philadelphia, but McGuire said he doubts that the country is destined for a program called No Stomach Left Behind, or even Meals for Millions.

"I don't think the attempt of the USDA is to change the name just because they want to have something a little zippier," McGuire said. "Their intention is to reemphasize what the food stamps program really means, that it's a food and nutrition program."

Some states are not waiting for the federal government's move. New names for food stamp programs are in place in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Washington, said Margaret Andrews, an economist with the Agriculture Department's economic research service. The phrase "food stamps" does not appear anywhere on many state-issued food cards.

"There are some states that don't even talk about food stamps anymore," Andrews said. "Not in the eligibility interview, not on the application."

The economic landscape has changed. More working people are qualifying for -- and using -- food stamps, a result of trying to pay ever costlier medical and housing bills on wages that have barely stayed ahead of inflation in the past decade.

An average of about 25 million a month participated in the program in fiscal 2005, Andrews said.

"The argument originally for food stamps was that people using them should be identified and they should feel bad about it," said Mark R. Rank, a professor of social welfare at Washington University in St. Louis and author of several books on public food assistance.

"That's been consistent for a very long time. . . . So this is really interesting about trying to go the other way. We're actually trying to make it more accessible than it has been. That's an interesting idea because it really goes against the grain."

Being able to receive assistance through the swipe of a debit card is a welcome change for those who use food stamps, said Morgan, the parks employee. "There's more people getting them now, and there's more people getting them that aren't ashamed," he said.

The Agriculture Department's forums have yielded hundreds of ideas for new names, though many people simply indicated support for the department's suggestions: Food Support Program, Nutrition Support Program, Food and Nutrition Program. The department has not drawn up a list of finalists.

"What we're doing is, we're focusing on what words people like" in place of food stamps, said John Knaus, who heads a branch of the department involved in the effort. "So far, 'food' is still a popular choice."