Expiration of the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) emergency allotments: increased food insufficiency highlights inadequacy of SNAP benefits after thrifty food plan revisions
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation’s largest federal nutrition assistance program, providing monthly benefits for food to more than 42 million low-income people. SNAP has been proven to lift families from poverty and reduce food insecurity--inconsistent access to an adequate, nutritious diet. The COVID-19 pandemic brought U.S. food insecurity to its highest levels in recent history, prompting Congress to pass legislation allowing temporary issuance of additional SNAP benefits, called Emergency Allotments, to SNAP recipients. Emergency Allotments increased SNAP benefits substantially, adding an average of $126 to the monthly benefit in the first year and $166 in subseuent years.4 Emergency Allotments ended in March 2023, but 18 states ended them early, when their state public health emergency expired.
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