USDA pushes food stamps with Spanish radio novelas and Hunger Champion awards

The Department of Agriculture also has been doing its part for the welfare state: It has been producing Spanish-language radio novelas dramatizing the desirability of signing up for food stamps, or whatWashington calls the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). “Will Claudia convince Ramon to apply for SNAP? Don’t miss our next episode of Hope Park!” concluded a typical spot. (Once word of the campaign spread, the department deep-sixed it.) A similar USDA program has been trying to combat ostensibly nefarious value systems – such as pride, personal responsibility and self-reliance. The Daily Caller reports that last year the department handed out Hunger Champion awards to North Carolina officials who developed strategies for “counteracting what they described as ‘mountain pride’ [by appealing] to those who wished not to rely on others.” A USDA fact sheet stressed the importance of countering “myths about SNAP among those who . . . have beliefs that discourage them from enrolling.” In short, the USDA is not merely making sure that people who want food stamps know how to access them. It is trying to sign up people who don’t want them in the first place...more