Food Assistance
Introduction to the Food Stamp Program
"The Food Stamp Program, the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helps roughly 35 million low-income Americans to afford a nutritionally adequate diet...Food stamps respond quickly and effectively to support low-income families and communities during times of economic downturn and increased need. Enrollment expands automatically when the economy weakens and contracts when the economy recovers...In fact, food stamps are one of the fastest, most effective forms of economic stimulus."
Basics
The Food Stamp Program, the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helps roughly 35 million low-income Americans to afford a nutritionally adequate diet. WIC — short for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — provides nutritious foods, information on healthy eating, and health care referrals to about 8 million low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children under five. The School Lunch and School Breakfast programs provide free and reduced-price meals that meet federal nutritional standards to over 22 million school children from low-income families.
Policy Basics:
- Introduction to the Food Stamp Program
Featured Experts
The Center designs and promotes polices to make the Food Stamp Program more adequate to help recipients afford an adequate diet, more accessible to eligible families and individuals, and easier for states to administer. We also help states design their own food stamp programs for persons ineligible for the federal program. Our work on the WIC program includes ensuring that sufficient federal funds are provided to serve all eligible applicants and on helping states contain WIC costs. Our work on child nutrition programs focuses on helping states and school districts implement recent changes in how they determine a child's eligibility for free or reduced-priced school meals.
New
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Podcast: The Safety Net’s Response to the Recession
October 8, 2009
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Testimony: LaDonna Pavetti, Director of Welfare Reform and Income Support, on the Safety Net’s Response to the Recession
October 8, 2009
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Policy Basics: Introduction to the Food Stamp Program
Updated September 22, 2009
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Upcoming Medicare Change is an Opportunity to Enroll Eligible Low-Income Seniors in Food Stamps
September 9, 2009
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Food Stamps On-Line: A Review of State Government Food Stamp Websites
Updated July 8, 2009
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By the Numbers




