Government Refuses to Disclose Food Stamp Details

Local paper presses USDA in court

Keith Farrell

            The number of Americans participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has nearly doubled since 2005.  47 million Americans are now participating. The USDA has refused to disclose how much it pays to which stores participating in the program. Details about the now $80 Billion plus program are relatively unknown.

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A South Dakota paper The Argus filed a Freedom of Information Act request for the information.  Though the request was initially blocked by a federal ruling, The Argus is now in front of an appeals court hoping for a reversal.  “All we’re really doing is asking: how does the government spend its money,” the paper’s attorney, Jon Arneson said.  The USDA claims that privacy of the participants and concerns about fraud necessitate the restriction of this information.

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The 8th Circuit Appeals Court’s website posted a half-hour long recording of a session where the judges sounded very critical of the government’s defense.  While the appeals court will decide the fate of The Argus’s FOIA request, it is troubling that so much effort is needed to obtain basic information about a massive tax payer program.  This isn’t even data about individual’s usage of their benefits, but merely an accounting of which stores are receiving how much money.

Where government lacks in transparency it also generally lacks in accountability.