I think you sort of have to look at how SNAP evolved. It was the result of what was deemed to be  an iterative series of improvements. Way too low-res,  the sequence was &quot;commodities&quot; to food stamps to SNAP, with generics and store brands also evolving out of the same ferment.<p>SFAIK, the principal ... principle driving this was administrative cost reduction on the government side - reuse
existing buildings and people.<p>And then it ties into the crop subsidy system, which is generally awesome in that it prices risk from shortage almost to zero at a cost in mild to &quot;OMG!&quot; overproduction.