Our digital producer julio made this, 146 million are currently on food stamps about 15 of the population. It costs about 75 billion a year and theres proposed 40 billion cuts, that will impact about 3. 8 million americans. Of course this prompted a huge debate. We have cybernetic revolt, saying i dont make executions for people who made bad decisions and want others to pay for it. But ishow chimes in, creates the reliance on food stamps. Wendy says my mother is a senior shes 72 she gets 26 in food stamps. Shes also disabled. What can she do . Where does the money come from, even if you can, can taxpayers sustain out of their income . A lot of people are empathetic out of the struggles of many americans. Thats a question. Thats a question were going to rely. Around 47 million rely on the snap program, supplemental nutritional assistance program. Others defend it as a critical safety net for many americans. Were joined on set by chrisy hanson, she is federal Affairs Manager for americans for pros prosperity. Michael minnis. And policy analyst for bread for the world, and andy fitzgerald, an intern from guardian midwest, who is receiving snap benefits. Chrisy, id like to start with you, over the past 50 years a version of snap has been a part of american culture. Why this move now . What is the trigger to make the cuts . The trigger to make the cuts is the reauthorization of the farm bill. Snap actually surprisingly is a huge part of what we call the farm bill that comes up in washington about every five years or so. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program actually accounts for 80 of the spending this this bill. Food stamp programs are set to expire at the end of this month and thats why congress addressed it this month. Hasnt it always accounted for a huge portion of the farm bill . It has. Why such a big deal on this goround . Right now there is outside support for splitting the foot programs from the farm programs. This is something that conservative organizations have been calling for a number of years but this year there is enough grass roots pressure to actually split these two components. We referred to in the media as decoupling. What is that and why do they want them split apart . Definitely. The farm bill comes up every five years or so and Food Stamp Programs and farm programs have typically been combined. The problem is it shields both arts parts from reform. We favor splitting these so both parts can be considered on their merits. So congress can look at Food Stamp Programs and farm programs without being distracted from one or the other. A program that serves anywhere from 46 to 48 million, from an outsiders perspective that sooms like a small number. Why is that significant . It is significant because it would actually take people off the program and results in we think afternoon increase in hunger and an increase in the churches and charities that are trying to split the need. You said earlier the programs really expanded since 2008 and we think its because of the economy and its the program is work exactly as its intended, in its big now because more people than not need it. We hope that number overall will go down and well have less people having to rely on the program. Michael minnis, you opened a food pantry in west tennessee. Why did you do that . Well in our Training Program i found that pooh number of individuals were not retaining information, they were lackadaisical and really werent paying attention. So i polled around and asked what the problem was. And numerous, time after time again, numerous people would say, im hungry, i havent had anything to eat. And its like, where does a person go when they have no food resources . They typically resort to anything possible. Which in many cases leads them to incarceration. To circumvent having young people incarcerated just to eat, we opened the food pantry. Tad says fact is many people on food stamps do work. Low wages mean people work full time and have little time for food, until the poor is not villainized, no changes will come and again lisa talking about the back back and forth, stop assuming ive dealt with food stamps and jason says, so glad i get food stamps, i get to stay home all day, it is easier than working. Andy you are a paid employee at the guardian. Talk to us about this situation. I think its easy to abstract this, we turn very frequently to stereotypes as peek being as free loaderrers or welfare queens. A lot of this carries with us classist or racial overtones. For me personally i found that snap was a vital safety net when i was in a grueling job search. It is hard for americans to find a living wage. Many of the Job Opportunities are temporary, short term employment. Often time another paid internship and fortunately, snap was able to get me through that gap and to the guardian. I think its important for social assistance be there for people. Christine, do you think the misconceptions that waj and andy point out play into the program . Yes, its much easier to go after a program that doesnt have a swebz thats going ospeak out against the clubs. As a community we are speaking out against these deep cuts and its part of the reason that bread for the world works so hard to fight back against these cuts. Chrisy, there are a lot of lawmakers who say, we dont want to get rid of the Food Stamp Program, but its out of control. What is to support the category out of control . In over the last decade weve seen a dramatic growth and americans for prosperity, i should clarify, we dont want to gut the Food Stamp Program. We dont want to get rid of this program. We Want Congress to be able to strike a balance between providing a basic safety net for struggling americans helping them put food on the table while also ensuring that some safeguards exist for taxpayers. And the bills that house passed yesterday strikes that balance. A lot of people arent seeing that balance right now. Chris says, its a political football, rather than a critical life line. Diseesteve says, and cybernet rt says, americans will have a are chance to work. Christine, tell us about the are debate thats between both sides, it seems like everyones empathetic but whats getting us not towards the middle . Thats a really tough question. We are working on a farm bill at a time when we have a lot of partisanship. And snap or food stamps or whatever you have called it has had bipartisan support. And because of the budget were in we look at the program and all we see are dollar signs. Thats the nature of the debate these days is where can we find savings in every Single Program when in reality this program should be a priority and it should be seen as something thats working because it is. So how much do yall spend on food every day . Up next what it takes to live off a daily ration of food stamps. Im ashley f. Miller, writer 8thiest and player of the ukulele and im in the stream. Today was day 1 of the food stamp challenge. Once again im trying to eat this week for 4. 15 per day. I feel full but i dont feel good. I dont feel healthy at all. And thats a problem for me. That was gregory, he was one of just many people who participated in the food stamp challenge last year which was a voluntary decision to eat on less than 4 a day. Like a lot of people on the snap program do. Now as a point of clarification snap was designed to supplement food budgets not be the whole budget. The average is 133 many 40, that comes out to about 1. 40 to supplement each meal. Andy, you are employed, you use the program, are you able to add to the budget or are you eating exclusively off the supplement . I have been eating exclusively off the supplement before. I was unemployed, work temporary work catering jobs short term. Paid canvassing gigs. Since i have been working at the guardian i will circulate any supplement tollly removed what was it like . I was able to purchase salads pastas, foods more healthy. Before i was on snap i found myself eating instant oatmeal velveeta, around thats not a healthy way to live. I truly do not believe i would have been able to continue my job search and eventually find myself in this position with this platform being able to talk about, as a person who knows the utility of the social welfare position without having snap. It is really hard to write a clear concise solid resume when youre worrying about where youre going ofind food. A few other people took the snap challenge, including the founder of pan panera bread ron saish. Quote, i was forced to find foods that were filling but not the fruits vegetables and meetss that many would say would be in a balanced diet. Is it enough for people to stay healthy . Thats up to interpretation and youre right, the operative word here is supplemental assistance program. By no means is this program intended to be pay for entire cost for a struggling persons food. Chiming in, systemic problems in the economy and jonathan raise the minimum wage. Jonathan from new york defined living wage to be 10 an hour with benefits and 11. 50 without benefits. So clearly the federal minimum wage, 7. 25 is not adequate for a lot of People Living in new york city. And the increase in the amount of people on food stamps in new york city to 1. 5 million out of the entire population of 9 million now i think reflects the difficulty that people have buying food with their current wages. So christine you mentioned the economy right now, thats the problem. I mean look are these discussions already going to be bandaid discussions before we do something or do you think raising the minimum wage is a long Term Solution to this . I think making sure people who are working are making a living wage is a critical part of no americans going hungry. But unfortunately in the economy were in, even as the Unemployment Rate is going down, we have a lot of people working for very low wages and continue to be eligible for these programs. They are doing the right thing, working and unfortunately they are still qualifying for these programs so definitely a living wage is critical to make sure we can end hunger. Michael bhoos responsible do you think whose responsibility do you think it is to make sure people dont go hungry . There are some correlations that we need to take a look at. For example, transportation. Food typically is transported to cities from farms. And from those cities it may go to warehouses in the other cities. In essence most of the food that we eat has anywhere from a 500 to 1500 mile trip before it gets to our dinner table. And considering the cost of transporting it is tide tied to a limited supply of fossil fuels that brings us to the economic limit of supply and demand which basically puts us at a disadvantage because as the Oil Prices Continue to go up the upward pressure puts food prices in jeopardy of rising. And when food prizes rise, there goes the diminishing quantity of food that the limited food stamps can purchase. And thereafter, maybe even the quality diminishes and the type of food that can be purchased. So the solution is local, is that what im getting from that . I think that when you use the term supplemental, one of the things that we at our food pantry have instituted is, urban farms. Where we grow certain crops and provide the produce to our clients. Michael, describe for us what hunger looks like in memphis, tennessee. Recently, a young lady stopped me on the street. And she asked me if i knew where she could get something to eat. And i told her we have a pantry, it was hours pastime when our pantry is open. And i brought her in. She had tears in her eyes. I said whats wrong . She said i was on my way i was strand he in memphis, with my two children. I found out where if Grocery Store was and i was headed there to steal some food. She was willing to risk going to jail. Chrisy, does the food stamp issue affect some people more than others . About one fifth of kids in the United States food insecure, 25 of moms, 35 of dads. How do you make these choices like michael is referring to . The bill that the house passed yesterday actually preserves food stamps for everyone who already meets the federal requirements. So they would the person that michael just highlighted she would still be eligible for food stamps if the bill that the house passed were enacted into law. The changes, the savings that come from the house bill those are actually for people who do not meet who exceed the requirements, the income level requirements. Id like to hit on a point that christine brought up earlier which is that a lot of this growth in food stamp spending is due to the down economy. And shes right. But thats not the whole story. A lot of the growth has actually come from statebased efforts to sweep more people onto the program and increase eligibility. So thats one of the reasons why were seeing that. So the house bill would disallow that . Thats true it would tighten those requirements with income and asset tests. We have to take break but do you have tweets drug testing be used to ensure theres less fraud and cost . Ruth says, absolutely not, can you imagine a 75 or 80yearold having to be drug tested for a lousy 16 a month . Drug testing is unsuccessful but michael says cut some fundings and qualify all applicants. Make sure theyre seeking employment. Same with welfare common sense, right . A lot of debate if thats common sense. Chrisy and others when we come back we look at whats Going Forward . What concessions need to be made on both sides of the aisle . We will discuss your tweets after this break. First here are a number of stories you are giving us on trends. Every sunday night whrosh, talking about d welcome back. Talking about snap, what lawmaker concessions need to be made. Asking a question many of our Community Members are asking, if snap is cut what can be brought to the table . Jennifer says, cut out military spending and concentrate on home at once. Food stamps need to be are changed to a graduated system. As you earn more, less are subsidy, saving us millions in health care think about prevention as the cure. Thats a whole other show. Thats a show. Christine what kind of changes would you make . Well, the Food Stamp Program now, the way that it is, while it is supposed to be a Supplemental Program really isnt because of the state of the economy. I wanted to respond to something chrisy said earlier, regarding eligibility. Youre right, every person under the current standard would be eligible under the changes of the house bill and certain people would be kicked off. But it allows the states the flexibility to tailor the program to who the poorest in their states are. The poverty looks different in new york than it does in mississippi or oklahoma. States have the ability to be flexible. The poorest in their states are receiving the nutrition assistance they need. True but states have the flexibility to waive the federal work requirement. Should they be able to do that for able bodied people . I think so, i remember when i graduated from college, my career advisor said it took six to eight months to find a job. And i believe thats true. To limit to three to six months assistance really doesnt make sense. When they need to work and want to work, anybody ive been talking to wants to be able to make a living and not have to rely on assistance but the reality is thats just not a possibility for them right now in this economy. I think thats an incredibly good point because i was one of the lucky ones. I fortunately was able to secure employment. I had past working experience that was relevant and you know i think for a lot of people its a lot harder. The only reason im here again is because i was lucky, i think job matching tends to have a lot of luck involved. Who seizure resume and what they feel like that day. Its really hard, for young people, people on food stamps and people who are struggling to find work. Michael do you see room for improvement and if so how would you tell lawmakers to tweak it . Well, first of all its very difficult to solve a problem if you dont know what the problem is. And bottomup management has more insights to reality than topdown management does. When you give a perspective on where people are making tradeoffs between purchasing medicine, paying rent, or eating, you have a problem that is prevalent not just in mississippi, not just in new york, but its across the board. And when you consider whats been put on the table as drug testing theres a million and one ways to get around that. To the extent that theres no real medium that you can tabulate that accurately. If a person wants to take a person whos never utilized drugs and have them youre natal in a condom and they tear the condom around their crotch they take temperature and take the test. If you tied it to something i was just going to say up until the urine in the condom, it was the nicest way d. C. Needs to get their head out of the box. America operates in a gray area. What would you say on both sides of the aisle on the snap debate . They should realize that its not just a race and there are ordinary people behind these issues and behind this policy behind snap and these people have concerns and problems and goals and aspirations and instead of abstracting them into being lazy or a waste of money or not worth it, i think we should consider the fact that these people are hungry and we are providing them food. Got to go. Thanks for all you guests in participating in real interesting conversation. Until next time, waj and i will see you online. Good evening everyone, welcome to al jazeera. Im John Siegenthaler in new york. The American People dont want the government shut down and they dont want obamacare. The budget battle on capitol hill. House members make their First Movement with health care on the chopping block. What neighborhood leaders are doing stop bloodshed. Plus a supertyphoon, the steps the government is doing to protect the coast