Despite occasional attempts to resurrect a food stamp program, the concept of food stamps lay dormant until President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961. In his first executive order, President Kennedy, who had witnessed first-hand the plight of families living in poverty during his campaign, established three-year food stamp pilot programs.
Although Kennedy’s pilot programs eliminated blue coupons for surplus food, applicants were still required to buy food stamps, which meant that households with very low income, often people of color, were unable to participate. Nonetheless, the pilot programs were enormously effective — they provided much-needed help to families struggling to make ends meet and had a significant impact on local economies by increasing the sale of food at retail stores by 8 percent. However, Florida was not one of the 21 states selected to participate in Kennedy’s food stamp pilot program.