This summer, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) of the federal government has been the subject of a great deal of media attention.
This has been the case for a variety of reasons, including the introduction of a new program called Summer P-EBT, which is designed to provide meals to children from low-income families, as well as the ongoing growth of online shopping opportunities for SNAP recipients.
SNAP, which stands for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and was formerly known as food stamps, is a program run by the United States Department of Agriculture that helps low-income Americans buy food.
The benefits are administered using a system that processes electronic benefit transfer debit cards.
Summer P-EBT, which stands for Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer, is a program that was launched by a partnership between the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and states and territories to provide children with temporary food benefits.
As of the 11th of July, more than 27 states and territories were taking part in the program, which meant that approximately 13 million children were receiving food from it.
If a child is under the age of six and lives in a household that receives SNAP benefits and receives free or reduced-price meals during the school year, then the child is eligible for the program and may participate.
The benefits are loaded onto EBT cards, which can then be used to make purchases of food and other necessities.
According to TechCrunch, Instacart extended its acceptance of SNAP EBT card payments to ten more states at the end of July. These states include Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
This brings the total number of states and the District of Columbia up to 49. The only state besides Alaska that does not accept EBT payments for Instacart is Alaska.
As a result of the expansion, Instacart has announced that it now accepts SNAP EBT payments at more than 60 retailers, which total more than 8,000 stores, and that it reaches nearly 30 million SNAP beneficiaries.
On July 8, Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Food Justice, made the announcement that 155 meal sites for the Boston Summer Eats Program had opened and would continue to operate throughout the summer.
Free meals, including breakfast, lunch, and snacks, are provided to children and teenagers who are eligible and are under the age of 18 in the Boston area.
The business hours are different at each location, and neither identification nor registration is required.
This summer, households can also participate in the P-EBT program to their benefit. Students in grades K-12 will receive their P-EBT benefits in two payments totalling $195.50 each, for a total of $391.
A new initiative from the Social Security Administration has made it possible for people who receive Supplemental Security Income to potentially also qualify for benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
You can even submit an application for both at the same time if you want to. If your family is already receiving SSI or is in the process of applying for it, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will:
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced plans to increase the number of retailers that provide SNAP beneficiaries with the ability to shop online through the use of a competitive grant of $5 million for which they are currently accepting applications.
According to the information provided on the USDA’s website, the SNAP EBT Modernization Technical Assistance Center grant, which was announced on July 7, will provide funding for an organization that can support retailers with online shopping technology and systems.
When doing their grocery shopping online, SNAP participants should be able to access a wider variety of retailers thanks to this initiative. The American Rescue Plan is the organization that will foot the bill for the grant.
Can You Use Your EBT Card Or Food Stamps To Purchase Hot Food With Your SNAP Benefits?
Read more:-
- Do Any Unused Food Stamp Snap Benefits Carry Over Into the Next Month?
- The Attorney General of Alabama and 21 Other States Have Filed a Lawsuit Challenging the Newly Implemented Snap and Title Ix Guidelines.
- Is It Possible to Use My Snap Ebt Card With Instacart?
This year’s skyrocketing inflation rate, which includes the price of food, which is increasing at a rate that is even higher than overall inflation, could result in much higher SNAP benefits during the following fiscal year.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) modifies the maximum allotments, deductions, and income eligibility standards for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the beginning of each fiscal year, which begins on October 1 and ends on July 1.
The adjustments were made in response to shifts in the cost of living, which can be thought of as the sum of money required to maintain a certain level of basic comfort.
The data from the Consumer Price Index for June showed that the index for food-at-home, which refers to food that you buy at a grocery store or supermarket, skyrocketed 12.2 per cent from the previous year. This was the largest increase seen in the food-at-home index in the last four decades.
