Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

What this funds

Authorized by the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the cornerstone of the Nation's nutrition assistance safety net, touching the lives of millions of Americans each month. The majority of SNAP participants are children, the elderly, or people with disabilities. Program benefits can be redeemed only at authorized food retailers. The program promotes long-term self-sufficiency and responsible use of taxpayer resources by providing participants with the tools to find and retain employment while supporting families during times of need. State agencies are responsible for administering the program according to national eligibility and benefit standards set by Federal law and regulations. FNS is responsible for authorizing and SNAP provides the basic nutrition assistance benefits for low-income people in the United States of America. Other FNS programs supplement this program with benefits targeted to special populations, dietary needs, and delivery settings. (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands receive grant funds to provide food and nutrition assistance in lieu of SNAP). FDPIR is authorized by section 4(b) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, as amended, to provide USDA Foods to income-eligible households living on Indian reservations, and to American Indian in FDPIR as an alternative to SNAP because they do not have easy access to SNAP offices or authorized food stores. Dual participation in SNAP and FDPIR is not permitted. State agencies and Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) operating the program are responsible for eligibility certification, nutrition education, local warehousing and transportation of food, distribution of food to recipient households, and program integrity. USDA purchases and ships the nutritious, domestic food, known as USDA Foods, distributed through the program. USDA also provides ITOs and State agencies administering the program with funds for program administrative expenses. The Child Nutrition Programs include the National School Lunch (NSLP), School Breakfast (SBP), Special Milk (SMP), Child and Adult Care Food (CACFP), Summer Food Service (SFSP), Fresh Fruit and Vegetable (FFVP), and the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) Programs. The NSLP, SBP, SMP, CACFP, and SFSP are authorized by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as amended. These programs provide reimbursement to State and local governments for nutritious meals and snacks served to children in schools, childcare institutions, summer sites, and after school care programs. CACFP also supports meal service in adult day care centers and emergency shelters. For each of these programs, FNS provides funds and USDA-purchased foods on a per-meal basis to offset the cost of food service at the local level and a significant portion of State and local administrative expenses, and provides training, technical assistance, and nutrition education. Payments are higher for meals served for free or at a reduced price to children from low-income families. The FFVP, also authorized by the National School Lunch Act, provides access to fresh fruits and vegetables for students in low-income elementary schools in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. States select schools to participate based on criteria in Summer EBT provides summer grocery benefits to school children in low-income families for purchasing food and beverages at authorized retailers across the country. Summer grocery benefits are a proven strategy for helping dramatically reduce child hunger when schools are out of session for

Extracted from Food and Nutrition Service, p. 68. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

Contracts funded by this line

1090 linked contracts. These are obligations — lifetime awarded money — and they are not comparable to the request above and are never added to it. No total is shown: an award linked to several lines is counted in full on each, so the sum would not be a fact.

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Confidence mix · 1090 certain

Linked contracts are a floor, not a census. Coverage is bounded by how distinctively a program is named and, for performer links, to RDT&E and Procurement — O&M and military construction publish no performers. Budget figures are FY2027 request dollars; contract figures are obligations. The two measure different things and must never be summed together.

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