The premiere U.S. anti-hunger program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, fails to assure a healthy diet for millions of low-income Americans, said the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Tuesday. Half of all SNAP households “are still food insecure, meaning they lack consistent access to enough food to support an active, healthy life,” said the nonprofit in a report.
At the same time the Trump administration pursues tighter eligibility rules for SNAP, the think tank advocated an increase in benefits, now roughly $121 per person a month or $4 a day. Benefits are based on a bare-bones USDA standard called the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) and adjusted annually for inflation. A variety of researchers have reached the same conclusion as the Center on Budget: the TFP is antiquated and inadequate.
While lawmakers are working quietly on reauthorization of school lunch, WIC and other child nutrition programs, there is little impetus for action on SNAP this year. Congress rejected administration-backed cuts in SNAP eligibility rules in the 2018 farm bill, being implemented this year. At latest count, 36 million people received food stamps each month.
“Studies have found that the Thrifty Food Plan…may require low-income households to devote much more time than most households actually have to preparing meals, and to make meals largely from scratch,” said the report. “SNAP benefits cannot easily be stretched to purchase as many of the more convenient, but often more costly, processed or prepared foods as American consumers typically eat today. Nearly 9 in 10 households with a single adult (with or without children) lack the combination of time and money required to purchase and prepare healthy meals.”
After saying “the preponderance of evidence suggests that SNAP benefits fall short of what many families need,” the think tank said, “The evidence shows that raising SNAP benefits would materially improve food security and lessen the adverse effects linked to households running out of adequate food before the end of the month and could contribute to improved health concerns.” The report did not suggest where to set benefits. Some researchers say an increase of $11 a week per person is needed to produce meals that comply with the TFP.
A University of California study published in March said that with menu planning and access to stores that sell staple foods in bulk, the average cost of healthy meals for a family of four was $25 a day. The estimate is in line with USDA’s Low-Cost Food Plan, one step up from the Thrifty Food Plan. The lead author of the study, Karen Jetter, said the research showed it was possible to meet USDA nutrition guidelines on a budget “but any reduction in SNAP benefits or increase in food costs would make it difficult for these economically vulnerable families to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”
In a blog this week, the anti-hunger Food Research and Action Center said the average SNAP benefit of $4 a day “on its face…is enough for most people to conclude the SNAP benefit is too low.” FRAC has issued its own report on “just how inadequate SNAP benefit amounts are.”
North Carolina Rep. Alma Adams filed a House bill in February to increase food stamp benefits by an estimated 30 percent. It would adopt the Low-Cost Food Plan for calculating SNAP benefits and allowed a larger deduction for housing costs when calculating benefits and set the minimum monthly SNAP benefit at $25, up from the current $16.
The 2018 farm bill included a provision for USDA to re-evaluate and publish revisions to the FFP every five years, beginning in 2022. The evaluations would be “based on current food prices, food composition data, consumption patterns and dietary guidance.”
Separately, the USDA reported the error rate in SNAP payments was 6.8 percent in 2018, compared to 6.3 percent in 2017. The error rate combines over- and under payments. The error rates “are not a measure of fraud,” said USDA. It said it would redouble its efforts with states to assure accurate payments.
To read the Center on Budget report, click here.