Episode 161: Are Americans Losing Food Freedom? How to Reclaim Control from the System

Welcome & Quick Reminder

Hi and welcome back to the Homestead Education Podcast. Before we dive in, remember you can get all of my Homestead Science books on my website — they’re geared toward teaching agriculture to today’s youth and aspiring homesteaders through small-scale farming and self-sufficiency. If you’re a school or co-op, reach out to me directly.

Life on the Homestead Lately

Life on the homestead never really ends. The last few weeks have been extra busy with my husband in Oregon helping his dad. Just when the kids and I thought everything was settled…a calf was born.

We were actually excited, because it’s a heifer from our favorite milk cow. We’d already decided that if she had a heifer, we’d keep it as a future replacement family cow since our current favorite is about nine years old. We never want to push her past what’s comfortable for her.

For those curious: our favorite cow is a Belfair (half Jersey, half Dexter), and this time we bred her to our Brown Swiss bull — so the calf is half Brown Swiss, half Belfair. I’m very excited about her.

We’re still working on names. If we haven’t picked one by the time you hear this, come to Instagram — either @thehomesteadeducation or @hannerhomestead — and toss us your ideas. I’ll announce the name there too.

New Resource: Student Planner

If you’ve been following along, you may have seen that we released the Homestead Education Student Planner. Yes, it’s October. Yes, I released an “academic” planner now. That’s because I’m one person and homeschoolers don’t all start in August anyway.

I made it undated on purpose so you can start it anytime.

It’s designed for junior high and high schoolers — homeschool or public — and it includes:

• space for farm chores,

• livestock project tracking (4-H/FFA or personal),

• reading logs,

• homestead facts and ag conversions,

• gestation charts,

• incubation timelines,

• and it’s actually pretty to look at.

There are three cover options, and you can get it printed or digital:
thehomesteadeducation.com/student-planner

Winter Mode & Reading

We’re starting to hunker down for winter, which means I start making my reading list. I wanted to read 50 books this year — life said “no.” I’m at about 10, it’s early November, so maybe I can push it to 20–25.

If you want to see what I’m reading, I’m on Goodreads under Kody Hanner (Kody Hanner). I love seeing what you’re reading too — I get a lot of good books that way. I’ll link it in the show notes if I can grab the direct link.

Sponsor: Porthill Printing

This episode is brought to you by our family’s new business: Porthill Printing.

We started it because as homeschoolers and self-publishers we could not find affordable book printing. Staples prices are wild — $80–$90 for a spiral-bound color homeschool book is just not it. And self-publishers get hammered if they can’t afford big bulk orders.

So we bought the equipment to print our own books…then decided to make it available to other homeschoolers, co-ops, and small publishers.

You can:

• upload and order right on the site,

• get it shipped anywhere,

• or request a quote for bigger/cheaper batches.

We also do wide-format, business cards, brochures, etc.
Visit www.PorthillPrinting.com or find us on social: @porthillprinting.

The Big Topic: Are 42 Million Americans About to Lose Food Benefits?

This is what I wanted to talk about today.

We’re in a government shutdown situation (or almost-shutdown, depending on when you’re listening). One of the things being held up is funding that affects SNAP — what we used to call food stamps.

People are asking:

“Are 42 million people going to go hungry this week?”

Maybe not today, but it exposed something bigger: we have built a population that depends on the system for food.And when the system hiccups, everyone panics.

So let’s walk through how we got here.

“If They Control the Food, They Control the People”

I’m going to repeat this a few times: if they control the food, they control the people.

That’s not just a dramatic line. That’s how governments, corporations, and even small local powers keep people compliant. If your food comes from them, your safety comes from them. And if your safety comes from them, they can move you.

This is exactly why, after COVID, so many families said:

• “I’m going to homeschool.”

• “I’m going to buy from farms.”

• “I’m going to stock a pantry.”

• “I’m going to question everything.”

Because they saw how fast supply chains can break and how fast rules can change.

A Quick History of Food Stamps (Because It Matters)

1939 – The Beginning
Food stamps were first created under FDR during the Great Depression. They were designed for two things:

1. help struggling families eat

2. move surplus agricultural products

So right from the start, food stamps were tied to FARM policy. Agriculture and nutrition have always been braided together.

Back then, people actually bought food stamps. For every $1 they bought, they got extra “surplus” stamps to use on overproduced foods. It was a smart way to feed people and support farmers.

1964 – Made Permanent
The Food Stamp Act made the program permanent. You still had to qualify. You still had to purchase. Imported items couldn’t be bought. It was still tied to U.S. ag.

Early 1970s – Participation Explodes
Over 10 million people were on food stamps — about 5% of the U.S. population at that time. When that many people are on assistance, something shifts culturally. It becomes a fallback people count on, not an emergency stopgap.

1977 – The Big Shift
By 1977, so many people were on the program and complaining about being “restricted” by having to pay for stamps that Congress removed the purchase requirement.

They also removed the requirement to have a cooking facility.
That means you no longer had to be able to cook real food to get benefits. You could just buy processed food.

That moment matters. That’s when we started disconnecting helping people eat from teaching people to feed themselves.

1988 – Domestic Hunger Act
This added some nutrition education requirements, but — let’s be real — real nutrition and home economics had already been stripped from public education. You can’t patch 10 years of bad habits with one pamphlet.

2008 – SNAP Renaming
“Food stamps” became SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) to “remove the stigma.”

I have opinions about that.

Stigma vs. Responsibility

I am not anti-assistance. I was on food stamps for seven years as a single mom after a really hard, traumatic season. I know exactly what it’s like to have rent, twins, no income, no child support yet, and still need to eat.

What I’m saying is: stigma can be a motivator.
If we strip every ounce of discomfort away, we also strip away the urgency to get off the program when you’re able.

Instead of saying,

“Let’s make this so comfortable no one feels bad,”
we could say,
“Let’s make this available, dignified, and temporary — and let’s teach people how to not need it.”

Those are different goals.

Where We Are Right Now: 42 Million People

Today, about 42 million Americans are on SNAP. That’s over 12% of the U.S. population.

That’s the number we should all be freaking out about — not just “Will it hit their cards this week?” but “Why do 42 million people need it at all?”

And yes, about 5 million of those are reportedly illegal immigrants receiving benefits. At the current average benefit for a family of four (about $973), that’s over $1.2 billion a month going to that group alone.

And about 10% of SNAP spending is on soda and sugary drinks. That’s more than $800 million a month overall — and over $120 million of that from the illegal-immigrant portion alone.

So when people say, “It’s only 12%…”
No. That’s 5 million people. That’s the population of an entire mid-sized state.

The Real Problem: System-Dependence

The problem is deeper than “people get food stamps.”

The problem is:

• we removed the requirement to cook

• we never taught people to cook

• we never taught people to grow food

• we made ultra-processed food the easiest thing to buy

• we made the program bigger and bigger

• we let the middle (farmers + processors) get all the money

• and we’re shocked that people don’t know how to feed themselves now

This is how you lose food freedom. Not because you can’t get groceries this week — but because you can’t feed yourself without a government-issued card.

I’ve Been on SNAP — Here’s What I Did With It

Because I never want to sound like I’m throwing stones:

• I was on food stamps 7 years.

• I went to college while on them (3 degrees).

• I worked.

• I cooked from scratch.

• I hunted and used SNAP to buy pork fat so I could make sausage.

• I fed my kids well.

• I treated it like it was temporary.

That’s what I want for people. Not shame — skills.

What We Should Be Doing Instead

1. Restrict SNAP to Actual Food

Make SNAP cover:

• milk, cheese, yogurt

• eggs

• fresh/frozen unprocessed meat

• fresh/frozen unprocessed produce

• flour, oats, rice, beans

• salt, spices, sugar

• cooking fats
  Not soda. Not snack cakes. Not ultra-processed junk.

2. Let SNAP Be Spent at Small Farms Easily

Make it easy for small, local farms to accept SNAP (POS systems, simpler approvals). That way we actually support the farmers SNAP was originally designed to help.

3. Teach Food in Schools Again

Make agriculture + home economics a required part of school. Not a cute elective. Teach:

• growing food (even small scale)

• cooking from pantry staples

• meal planning on a budget

• basic repairs

• stocking a pantry

• how the food system actually works

We can absolutely build school greenhouses and chicken coops. There are grants for this. I know because people use my curriculum to do it.

4. Require Nutrition CE for Doctors Who Take Government Insurance

Most doctors get almost no nutrition training. If you take Medicaid/Medi-Cal/Tricare/etc., you should have to stay up to date on nutrition so you can tell patients something besides “lose weight.”

5. Incentivize Nutrition Classes for SNAP Recipients

Not punishment — incentives. Take a real cooking/food skills class at the extension office? Get a bonus on your EBT that month. Tie benefits to skill-building.

What This Shutdown Exposed

This whole mess in D.C. exposed something nobody wants to talk about:

We have built a nation where millions of people cannot feed themselves without government money.

That is dangerous.
That is fixable.
And that is exactly why homesteaders, homeschoolers, and local-food people have been yelling about self-sufficiency for years.

Because when food is centralized and political, you are centralized and political.

Final Thought

I am not anti-help. I am anti-keeping people helpless.

We can do better:

• for families who truly need a bridge

• for farmers who are getting squeezed

• for kids who deserve to learn real skills

• and for a country that should not be brought to its knees every time Congress plays games

Eating is an agricultural act.

Keep growing.