Permanent increase coming for US food aid program

The setting sun in West Woodstock, Vermont. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

As of Oct. 1, low-income Americans relying on monthly food assistance from the federal government will see a permanent increase in the funding.

Officials recently announced a 27% increase in grocery benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), media reports stated. About 42 million people currently receive SNAP benefits, and the change will impact about 70,000 Vermonters, according to Vermont Public Radio.

Anore Horton, the director of Hunger Free Vermont, said an increase has been needed for a long time.

"Advocates across the country have been saying for years and years and years SNAP benefits are inadequate; they have no relationship to the real cost of food," Horton told VPR. "And this is, while not a complete step toward fixing that, a very significant and important one."

This announcement comes as a temporary 15% increase in these benefits is set to expire next month.

The upcoming 27% increase will add, on an average per-person basis, about $36 per month to the pre-pandemic monthly amount of about $121 per person, according to CBS News.

The SNAP benefits were recently recalculated based on a program-wide assessment that Congress requested in 2018. The reassessment found that the benefits were too low, officials said.

Speaking to the media earlier this week, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the adjustments to the program are responding to higher food prices, evolving nutritional guidance, and changes in how Americans cook.

"We need to modernize those assumptions based on what is happening in kitchens and homes across America," Vilsack said.

— Gareth Henderson