Blogs

For many communities, the SNAP-Education program provides much more than basic nutrition guidance. In Kāneʻohe, Hawaii, the SNAP-Ed funded Luluku Farms’ Aloha ʻĀina Agri-Cultural Restoration project uses the ʻĀina (land) to preserve traditional crops so the community can achieve self-sustainability, while providing keiki (kids) opportunities to learn about their cultural and traditional practices — as well as nutrition education. 

The 2023 SNAP E&T State Institute, hosted by FNS, brought together 20 state SNAP agencies for a two-day event that aimed to assess and enhance their SNAP Employment and Training programs. 

A key part of our work to end hunger, improve nutrition, increase physical activity, and reduce diet-related diseases is focusing on historically under-served areas, like rural and Tribal communities. Alaska, for instance, faces unique challenges.

For far too long, decisions about FDPIR were made for tribes rather than with tribes or even by tribes. But USDA is committed to turning that tide and making the future of FDPIR one marked by listening, understanding and collaboration.

Thanks to a partnership between USDA and the National Association of Farmers Market Nutrition Programs, direct marketing farmers are now able to accept SNAP payment online. The first direct marketing farmer enabled to accept SNAP online is River Queen Greens, a vegetable farm in New Orleans, Louisiana. SNAP online payments increase accessibility for River Queen Greens customers.

Stacy Dean, FNCS Deputy Under Secretary , was inspired by how three tribes - Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe - are dreaming big in terms of food sovereignty through FDIPR and SNAP.

USDA FNS Administrator and regional FNS leadership visited New Mexico to recognize several FNS nutrition assistance programs in action and learn how FNS can support their work. New Mexico is one of the first states to offer healthy meals to all children, ensuring more kids have access to the meals they need to thrive at school and beyond.

SNAP provides nutrition support to millions of American families in need. USDA’s FNS works with partner states to ensure that SNAP provides the right amount of benefits to eligible families in the prescribed timeframes.

Reliable, high-quality work is a powerful way out of poverty, and USDA’s SNAP Employment and Training helps gain professional skills and connections to better employment opportunities.

USDA FNS is working hard to get more eligible families connected to WIC by making it easier to enroll.

In Colorado, Adams and Denver counties are taking innovative approaches to co-located health and human services operations.

USDA FNS supports indigenous health and tribal sovereignty through FDPIR Self-Determination Demonstration Projects. The Alaska Native Health Consortium, operates a FDPIR self-determination demonstration project that provides foods to 18 tribes across Alaska.

Pronto, muchos hogares recipientes del programa de nutrición de SNAP (también conocido como cupones de alimentos) verán un cambio en la cantidad de beneficios que reciben cada mes. Esto se debe a que el aumento temporal de beneficios que empezó a ofrecerse a raíz de la pandemia, llamado “Asignación de Emergencia”, será discontinuado. 

On Jan. 19, 2023, USDA participated in the first of seven regional summits focused on strengthening the intersections between healthcare and nutrition security. These regional summits build on USDA’s first-ever National Nutrition Security and Healthcare Summit held in Washington, D.C., in October 2022. Together, the national and regional summits are leveraging the momentum of the White House Conference’s corresponding National Strategy that aims to end hunger, improve nutrition and physical activity, and reduce diet-related diseases and disparities.

Soon, many SNAP households will experience a change to their benefit amounts as the temporary pandemic-related boost to SNAP benefits, known as emergency allotments, come to an end. More than 41 million Americans receive food-buying benefits through SNAP. They rely on these benefits to put food on the table each month. That’s why it’s so important they know what’s happening to their benefits – and when – so they can plan for themselves and their families.

TEFAP Reach and Resiliency – Round 1 grants are making an impact in communities across the nation. The Food Bank of Lincoln has leveraged Reach and Resiliency sub-grant funding to identify underserved areas and to implement strategies to increase TEFAP access in those areas. In some cases, the strategies were as simple as increasing the frequency of deliveries to specific communities to ensure that existing TEFAP resources were being equitably distributed.

For the 2025 DGAs, USDA and HHS sought an advisory committee that would be reflective of the full diversity within the United States, with the understanding that our backgrounds can affect our nutritional needs. The broader composition of the committee will ensure the resulting guidelines reflect the nutritional and cultural needs of all Americans.

Last month, 350 SNAP E&T state agencies and other partners from across the country gathered for the 2022 SNAP E&T National Forum. This year’s National Forum included 32 sessions covering a diversity of topics, such as SNAP E&T policy, building E&T programs in rural communities, and using a trauma-informed and anti-racist lens to improve E&T programs.

Increasing transparency and encouraging competition around WIC formula contracts may seem purely bureaucratic, but it’s actually a vital step toward ensuring babies can get the formula they need. 

Top Box Foods is a community-driven non-profit, founded in Chicago in 2012, that creates access to healthy and affordable food for the communities they serve. Customers place orders online or via phone for nutritious food which is offered at prices up to 40% lower than grocery stores. Top Box Foods accepts SNAP benefits as payment for orders, making it an essential resource for households looking to make the most of their SNAP dollars.