Fox News “Reports” on SNAP: Binging, Losers, And “Too Much Food”

Roughly 45 minutes into Fox News’ “special” investigation into the Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or “food stamps,” per the outdated parlance), host Bret Baier posed a question that gets right to the heart of what Fox News specifically, and conservatives generally, are trying to accomplish with regard to public attitudes toward social welfare programs. “Shouldn’t there be at least some stigma?” Baier asked, referring to people who accept SNAP benefits. Baier’s just-asking-questions lament about the lack of stigmatization was all part of Fox News’ slipshod and flagrant piece of agitprop intended to shame the needy and promote public resentment of the government safety net.

Everything about Baier’s special, “The Great Food Stamp Binge” — from the title to its absurd focus on a thoroughly unlikable miscreant named Jason Greenslate who proudly abuses SNAP benefits — was designed to provoke hostility to the idea of nutritional assistance programs. Greenslate, a California musician who refuses to work and spends his monthly SNAP benefits on sushi and lobsters, is an anomaly in a program that has proven to be both efficient and effective. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “fewer than 2 percent of SNAP benefits are issued to households that do not meet all of the program’s eligibility requirements.” The USDA estimates that just one cent of every dollar of SNAP benefits is lost to “trafficking,” a type of fraud. “About three out of four SNAP households included a child, a person age 60 or older, or a disabled person,” per the Congressional Budget Office.

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