Data & Research
USDA produces four food plans outlining practical, nutritious diets at successively higher cost levels: the Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans. The Thrifty Food Plan serves as the basis for maximum allotments in SNAP.
This study was undertaken to understand why some SNAP participants shop at farmers markets and others in the same geographic area do not.
This study describes how farmers markets and direct marketing farmers operate and their perceived benefits and barriers to accepting SNAP.
This report presents the findings of the formative research undertaken to understand the current operations of nine farmers markets purposely selected by FNS to capture geography, market size, urban city, and variation in participation in nutrition assistance programs.
This study identifies how spending patterns, such as the rate at which households spend their benefit, changed following the ARRA benefit increase and analyzes how spending patterns differed across household characteristics, time and states.
To ensure program integrity, school districts must sample household applications certified for free or reduced-price meals, contact the households, and verify eligibility. This process (known as household verification) can be burdensome for both school officials and households. Direct verification uses information from certain other means-tested programs to verify eligibility without contacting applicants. Potential benefits include: less burden for households, less work for school officials, and fewer students with school meal benefits terminated because of nonresponse to verification requests.
This report describes the characteristics of SNAP households and participants nationwide in fiscal year 2010 (October 2009 through September 2010). It also presents an overview of SNAP eligibility requirements and benefit levels in fiscal year 2010.
This report inventories technological approaches to portable on-line authorization and reports on their technical and cost feasibility, advantages/disadvantages and potential impacts.