The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) as a permanent federal food assistance entitlement program beginning in summer 2024. Summer EBT has been tested through evaluations of demonstration projects since 2011. With pending implementation of this new program, this is an appropriate time to reflect on what USDA, FNS research has learned through more than a decade of study.

​This study examines the use of robotic process automation technologies by three state agencies—Georgia, New Mexico, and Connecticut—to administer SNAP.

The physical presence waiver, issued under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, allowed WIC state and local agencies to remotely certify participants into WIC during the COVID-19 pandemic. This report summarizes data collected from surveys of WIC state and local agencies about the use of the physical presence waiver and the impact it had on WIC services.

The Evaluation Policy highlights FNS’ commitment to scientific integrity and rigor in conducting research and evaluation projects and how research and evaluation findings are used to inform decision-making. 

​This study describes the wage subsidy and work-based learning models that aid in improving employment outcomes, the extent to which these models promote strong connections between government programs and employers, and the implications of previous findings on how to best implement wage subsidy and work-based learning programs within the SNAP Employment and Training (E&T) program.

List of FNS completed peer review plans and reports. 

The Farm to School Census and Comprehensive Review includes the 2019 Farm to School Census; a descriptive review of the USDA Farm to School grant program; a review of published research on farm to school since 2010; and a set of interviews with school food distributors. 

Phase II was a methodological study, conducted in six sites during 2015–2016, to test an approach to determine its feasibility for a national evaluation.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s 1990 WIC Medicaid Study I found that prenatal WIC participation was associated with improved birth outcomes and savings in Medicaid costs. A 2003 study by Buescher, et al., found that WIC participation during childhood was associated with increased health care utilization and Medicaid costs, and concluded that WIC enhanced children’s linkages to the health care system.

SNAP Education (SNAP-Ed) is the nutrition education and obesity prevention component of SNAP; its goal is to improve the likelihood that persons eligible for SNAP will make nutritious food choices within a limited budget and choose physically active lifestyles consistent with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the USDA food guidance.