President Trump's Hunger Games

This week, as part of its 2019 budget request, the Trump administration put forward a radical new policy proposal. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—SNAP, commonly known as food stamps—would reduce the amount of money given to lower-income families to help them buy groceries and would instead send food directly to them. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney described it as a “Blue Apron-type program” that would cut costs and provide better food to recipients. “We thought it was a tremendous idea,” he said at a press conference on Monday.

The idea does have some intuitive appeal: The delivery program might better reach families in food deserts, far from grocery stores and farmers markets. The government might be able to purchase wholesale food cheaper, stretching SNAP dollars further. The