View source for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

{{Program
|ProgramName=Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
|ProgramType=Program
|OrgSponsor=Food and Nutrition Service
|TopOrganization=Department of Agriculture
|CreationLegislation=Food Stamp Act of 1964
|Purpose=SNAP provides nutritional assistance to low-income individuals and families to help them afford healthy food. The program aims to alleviate hunger and improve nutrition by supplementing grocery budgets through electronic benefits.
|Website=https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program
|ProgramStart=1964
|InitialFunding=$75 million
|Duration=Ongoing
|Historic=No
}}
{{Short description|United States government food assistance program}}

{{Obligation right box|year=2024|id=3551}}
{{Infobox government agency
| agency_name    = United States Department of Agriculture
| formed         = {{Start date and age|1939}}
| type           = Program
| logo           
| logo_width     =
| logo_caption   = 
| seal           = 
| seal_width     = 
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| preceding1     = 
<!-- | effective_date = July 1, 1997 -->
| jurisdiction   = [[Federal government of the United States]]
| budget         = 
| website        = 
}}

In the [[United States]], the '''Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program''' ('''SNAP'''),<ref>[http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap Nutrition Assistance Program Home Page], U.S. [[United States Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]] (official website), March 3, 2011 (last revised). Accessed March 4, 2011.</ref> formerly known as the '''Food Stamp Program''', is a [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] program that provides food-purchasing assistance for [[Poverty in the United States|low- and no-income persons]] to help them maintain adequate [[nutrition]] and [[health]]. It is a federal aid program administered by the [[United States Department of Agriculture|U.S. Department of Agriculture]] (USDA) under the [[Food and Nutrition Service]] (FNS), though benefits are distributed by specific departments of U.S. states (e.g., the Division of Social Services, the [[Department of Health and Human Services]], etc.).

SNAP benefits supplied roughly 40&nbsp;million Americans in 2018, at an expenditure of $57.1&nbsp;billion.<ref name="Econofact">{{Cite web|url=https://econofact.org/snap-benefits-and-the-government-shutdown|title=SNAP Benefits and the Government Shutdown.|date=2019-01-24|website=Econofact|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TRP6001A027NBEA|title=Government social benefits: to persons: Federal: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)|last=U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis|date=1961-01-01|website=FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis|access-date=2019-12-28}}</ref> Approximately 9.2% of American households obtained SNAP benefits at some point during 2017, with approximately 16.7% of all children living in households with SNAP benefits.<ref name="Econofact" /> Beneficiaries and costs increased sharply with the [[Great Recession]], peaked in 2013 and declined through 2017 as the economy recovered.<ref name="Econofact" /> It is the largest nutrition program of the [[Food and Nutrition Service#Nutrition assistance programs|15 administered by FNS]] and is a key component of the social safety net for low-income Americans.<ref name="New Normal (Wilde, 2012)'">{{cite journal |last1=Wilde |first1=Parke E. |title=The New Normal: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) |journal=American Journal of Agricultural Economics |date=January 2013 |volume=95 |issue=2 |pages=325–331 |doi=10.1093/ajae/aas043 }}</ref>

The amount of SNAP benefits received by a household depends on the household's size, income, and expenses. For most of its history, the program used paper-denominated "stamps" or [[coupon]]s—worth $1 (brown), $5 (blue), and $10 (green)—bound into booklets of various denominations, to be torn out individually and used in single-use exchange. Because of their 1:1 value ratio with actual currency, the coupons were printed by the [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]]. Their rectangular shape resembled a [[United States one-dollar bill|U.S. dollar bill]] (although about one-half the size), including [[Intaglio (printmaking)|intaglio]] printing on high-quality paper with [[watermark]]s. In the late 1990s, the Food Stamp Program was revamped, with some states phasing out actual stamps in favor of a specialized debit card system known as [[Electronic Benefit Transfer]] (EBT), provided by private contractors. EBT has been implemented in all states since June 2004. Each month, SNAP benefits are directly deposited into the household's EBT card account. Households may use EBT to pay for food at supermarkets, convenience stores, and other food retailers, including certain [[farmers' markets]].<ref name=FNS>{{cite web|title=Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program|url=http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap|publisher=USDA|access-date=15 December 2013}}</ref>