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. 

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.

Bringing together local producers and schools was the objective of the “Bringing the Farm to School” producer training in Hardin, Montana. The training sought to build relationships between schools and producers to increase the availability of local foods served to children.

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.

The RUSD community exemplifies the commitment to healthy food for kids – a priority of the USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration. That commitment can produce an entire school community that embraces and supports the notion of serving and teaching kids about healthy foods.

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.

School breakfast programs are critical in building a healthier future for America’s children. But currently, only half of the children who eat school lunch also get their breakfast at school. 

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

Over the course of three days in MI, Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary for FNS, spoke at "The State of Our Plate" convening, met with school food service professionals, and attended a summit for healthcare professionals, insurers, federal, state, and local government officials.

Greeley-Evans School District 6 in northern Colorado was honored and excited to welcome Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to Maplewood Elementary School on March 22. The Secretary and visitors were able to see just one school of more than 30 in District 6 that provide essential health and nutrition programs to more than 22,000 students every day.

Federal nutrition programs do more than give kids food to eat. They teach children about the importance of nutrition and help them develop healthy habits.

The School Breakfast Program is one of the most nutritious and tasty meals children eat each day.

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.

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.