The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme, formerly known as food stamps, is America's principal federal food-welfare scheme. It has roots in a New Deal plan to redirect crop surpluses. The programme is administered by the federal Department of Agriculture, which due to a quirk of history is responsible for it.
SNAP is generally available to those at or below 130% of the federal poverty line—around $3,400 per month for a family of four. About 42m Americans use the programme. New Mexico has the highest uptake rate in America, with one in five residents receiving SNAP.
Between 2019 and 2024 SNAP grew from $60bn a year to $100bn. Uptake rose during the covid-19 pandemic as many states tried to sign up as many people as possible; many of those recipients have remained on the rolls since. Cost per person also increased, first through a temporary pandemic-era boost and then through food-price inflation. For the first time since 1975, the benefit amount was adjusted upward to reflect the changing cost of a healthy diet, raising payments by a fifth. Even so, SNAP still allocates just $6 a day for food.
One study found that those on SNAP had $1,400 less per year in medical costs. Young children who receive SNAP live longer, earn more and stay out of prison at greater rates than those who do not.
By early 2026, 30 states had committed to excluding some junk food from SNAP purchases and eight had enacted the change. The rules vary widely: some states exclude only fizzy drinks, others also sweets. Iowa blocks everything that does not have state sales tax, creating anomalies where granola bars are out but ice cream is fine. The Trump administration, through its MAHA agenda, has egged on states by tying some health funding to enacting such policies.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduces federal spending on SNAP by about 20% by 2034 and introduces increased work requirements. Lawful immigrants are cut off from the programme. The biggest structural change requires states to chip in for the first time: previously the federal government paid for all SNAP benefits. From 2028, states' contributions will be based on the share of payments they disburse incorrectly (the "error rate"), on a sliding scale. States with a low-enough error rate can avoid paying entirely; those that send more than 10% of payments incorrectly must pay for 15% of benefits. The national average error rate is 11%—just eight states are sufficiently frugal to avoid any cost-sharing. Alaska has the highest error rate in the country. An 11th-hour change to the law gives states with the highest error rates more time before cost-sharing kicks in.
States are barred by the law from reducing benefit amounts or cutting off certain groups. Given that almost all states are required by their constitutions to balance their budgets, they must either redirect spending, raise taxes or reduce SNAP rolls by making it harder to apply. Some analysts warn that a recession could lead states to terminate the programme altogether.
Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crud.