For Americans, using federal aid to buy food is far from free.
As History professor Michael Katz told members of the Student Coalition Against Hunger last night, using food stamps comes with a stigma.
Katz spoke about both the public and private tracks of the American welfare system, highlighting the problems associated with receiving aid in the form of food stamps.
"There's a reluctance to help strangers," Katz said. "It's easier to stigmatize and put down others."
Katz believes food stamps derive their negative connotation from the belief that they do nothing but reinforce dependence.
To place the food-stamp program in a wider context, Katz supplemented his lecture with a brief history of the American welfare system, which dates back to the colonial era.
"Welfare is America's oldest public policy," he said. "It's as American as Thanksgiving."
Toward the end of the event, Katz reiterated the importance of government-funded aid in the U.S., as one of President Bush's major goals for his second term has been Social Security reform.
Katz also relayed his view that other nations are more willing to help their poor. Americans, by comparison, are more likely to lend assistance to neighbors, friends or family members.
Overall, he hopes the students took away a better "understanding ... of the American welfare state and how the food-stamp program fits into the forces that are changing the welfare state."
The event, which was held in the Fels Institute of Government's Leadership Hall, was part of a series meant to complement the student-run program that focuses on screening Philadelphia residents for food-stamp eligibility.
About 20 students attended the dialogue, which was met with overall satisfaction despite the abbreviated time Katz spent discussing the organization's goals.
College senior Yael May, president of the coalition, said that Katz' presentation allowed students to understand the federal policies behind the grass-roots campaigns they carry out.
May added that the group works to reduce the negative connotation attached to the food-stamp program in the Philadelphia area.
"It was nice to get some theories behind food stamps and public policy in regard to how it helps people and how it's been detrimental. It was just a different perspective" for me, coalition Volunteer Coordinator Magalita Rene, a senior in the College, said.
Organizers chose Katz as the speaker because his latest book addresses the structure of the welfare state and the relation of food stamps to current policy.
