The Agriculture Department’s announcement that it is revising the food package on which benefit levels in the SNAP program (formerly known as food stamps) are based to reflect changes in food consumption patterns, research on diet and health, and nutrition guidance is a welcome development. This action will benefit millions of Americans and should lead to a healthier, more productive citizenry and workforce.

Evidence has been mounting for years that large numbers of SNAP beneficiaries run low or out of food by the end of the month.  When the program was created in the 1960s, its benefit levels were tied to the cost of a monthly food plan so spartan that the plan was recommended for emergency use only.  In the decades since, the benefit level has remained the same except for inflation adjustments even as key factors affecting low-income households’ food preparation and diets have changed and knowledge about diet and health has advanced markedly.  Before the pandemic, the average SNAP benefit equaled only about $1.40 per person per meal.

Read the full article about increases to SNAP benefits by Robert Greenstein at Brookings.