SNAP Maps, a new interactive tool from the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), shows that over a five-year period, “an average of 16% of rural and small-town households participated in SNAP, compared to 13% of households in metro areas,” says Feedstuffs.
“No community in America is immune to hunger, but rural and small-town areas are especially hard hit,” FRAC president Jim Weill said.
SNAP Maps uses data from the American Community Survey, which ran from 2011-15. Counties are slotted into one of three census categories—metro, small town or rural—and includes a searchable table that “allows users to compare household SNAP participation by state and county.”
FRAC says the tool will help policymakers, administrators, advocates, media and others “understand how substantial numbers of struggling families in every county across the country need help from SNAP.” The White House has proposed more than $190 billion in cuts to SNAP over the next 10 years by adjusting eligibility rules and raising work requirements.