I don't think it's ever happened before, aside from computer glitches which were very temporary (just 6 hours and isolated looting began). The reason previous shutdowns didn't affect food stamps is because in the past the USDA had reserve funds, they were able to continue issuing benefits even after they lost their funding for a while. Luckily, the reserve didn't run out before congress kicked the can down the road. Kind of makes you wonder why the USDA no longer has this cash reserve. They always did before during all the previous shutdowns, and there were quite a few in history.
I see people calling food stamp users lazy and all kinds of things on other forums. Many do abuse the system, that's a fact. However, many families struggle to buy food, and many of those go to work every day and still have to rely on food stamps. I guess it's one of those positions one has to be in to understand. In the past decade, the price of everything has gone up except the price of labor. Jobs are also few and far between now. Sure they tell us the economy is getting better, but from where I'm standing, it clearly isn't. Something they also don't consider is that while some still have their jobs, thier working hours have been cut. So they are working, but not making as much as they used to. The politicians are really to blame for much of this for favoring corporations that back them.
Excluding those that abuse the system, the food stamp program is the only way legitimate famlies can eat, including those that work their tails off to make ends meet. Many are disabled and simply can't work. Heck, you can't even hunt, fish or even grow food (in some places) without being able to afford a permit and following a bunch of regulations. If you utilize your land for farming then you'll see in increase in your property tax. Government doesn't exactly make it easy to survive for people who don't make a lot of money. Then they complain over the obesity problem, when a burger costs a dollar and a salad costs $7, fruit juice is $5 while a soda also costs a dollar.
Can this cause riots? Sure it can, history recorded riots over smaller things, and food is a pretty powerful need when one doesn't have it, its one thing we really take for granted. Not long ago the EBT system went down for just a few hours, and it resulted in turmoil. That was an isolated case as well. Imagine 46 million people losing their benefits at a time when they are likely low on food since the benefits generally only supply food for a month, meaning they'll likely run out of food a day or two before the benefits stop. People do desperate things when they are hungry, especially when they have kids to feed. Even the most moral people will have to do something to feed their family. I don't even think recipients are being warned that their food supply may suddenly stop in the next few days.
Something that I don't see talked about is the affect this can have on the economy. Let's say the average benefit amount is $800 a month for a family, which should be pretty close give or take a few bucks. Multiply that times $46 million, that means US business will lose $36,800,000,000 in food sells in just one month.
Food is a very basic resource necessary for survival, you take that away from 46 million people at one time, and you have major problems, that is nearly 20% of the entire country in fear of starving at once. We are just nine days away from Anarchy at that point, probably not that even long. When people start getting hungry, and start hearing thier kid's stomaches growling, they're going to do what is necessary to stay alive, even if this means lying, cheating, stealing and even killing. People basically revert back to our natural instincts. Before you know it, it's a civil war or a revolution. I'm not sure which would be worst. Many think this can't happen in America, I beg to differ.
Those that abuse the system are to blame, but also it is the Government to blame for meddling with the economy in favor of big corporations to the point of forcing people to rely on this program. Now, we have a group of politicians using the poor (once again) to get what they want. Politics at its worst.
