Food Stamps' Biggest Defender May Be This Man

Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Agriculture Secretary, said Tuesday in a speech that he will continue to protect the country's food programs from what he is calling "a very consistent, thoughtful campaign to delegitimize" them.

"Make no mistake, this is a battle," he said, according to the Des Moines Register.

Last year the number of people receiving assistance from the federal government in terms of food and nutrition hit a record 48 million. Food stamps alone increased by 20 million over the last four years. In total, nearly 1 in 7 Americans receive help from the government to buy food. 

Such numbers have given rise to significant contention in Washington D.C., particularly given efforts in Congress to pass a $500 billion farm bill.

What's more, with a growing deficit, both the Senate and House Agriculture committees have pushed to reduce spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by billions of dollars through, according to those involved, improving efficiency and reducing fraud.

However, Vilsack defends SNAP, which, he said, has the lowest fraud rate its history. The former governor of Iowa suggested instead that the government work harder on providing the training and education needed to help Americans move off of the assistance. 

"To me, that's the right way to reduce SNAP members," he said. "That hasn't been an emphasis of ours and I think it needs to be."

What's more, Vilsack made a point of assuring listeners that he takes his position overseeing the food programs seriously.

"We understand and appreciate that we've got a responsibility, a trust to ensure that the resources are well spent and spent on people who need help," he said. "We get that."

Food stamps are not the only program currently receiving negative attention: changes aimed at lowering childhood obesity in the United States have been criticized as too costly and even ineffective.

Said Rep. Steve King, R-La., "It's frustrating to see school lunches that are designed to give these kids the nutrition they need have them going home even hungrier, and eating more and more junk food and gaining more and more weight."

King said he plans on reintroducing legislation to cut back the USDA measures currently limiting the number of calories allowed in school lunches.