Applying Racial Equity to U.S. Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs - Flipbook - Page 61
Program
Summer Food
Service Program
(SFSP)
Description (including where and
what food is served)
Program that reimburses providers who
serve meals to low-income children
when school is not in session.
Seamless
Summer Option
(SSO)
An extension of the NSLP and SBP to
the summer months for schools that
participate in them
Same as SFSP.
Child and Adult
Care Food
Program
(CACFP)
CAFP sites receive reimbursement
for meals and snacks served to
low-income children at after-school
centers, daycare centers, and
childcare centers.
Eligibility varies based on specific
site and program, but eligibility
guidelines are closely aligned with
those for NSLP and NBP.
Eligibility
Sites in which at least 50 percent of
the children enrolled are eligible for
free or reduced- price meals may
register with the SFSP.
Setting
Nonprofits,
schools,
churches,
or other
qualifying
meal sites
Schools
that also
administer
NSLP
during the
year
Afterschool
centers
*NOTE: “In School” programs are offered only at a school and only during the school year.
Appendix 7: SNAP Alternatives (NAP and FDPIR)
Not all households that qualify for nutrition assistance receive SNAP. There are two programs that act as alternatives to
SNAP: FDIPR and Nutrition Assistance Block Grants (NABG).
People living on or near a reservation, as well as all residents of Oklahoma, have the option of applying for FDPIR (the
Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations).283 It is not available to Indigenous people who live neither on or near
a reservation nor in Oklahoma.284 This program provides specialized food packages to low-income Indigenous households,
including elderly people who may have mobility limitations, that include traditional food options.285 Households that receive
FDPIR may also qualify for SNAP, but cannot participate in the two programs simultaneously. It is important to note that not
all households that participate in FDPIR qualify for SNAP. FDPIR food is usually provided at a distribution center, which can
differ depending on their location. Some FDPIR distribution centers are set up like grocery stores, with all the food labeled and
organized by aisle. At other centers, people need to fill out a request list and wait for a staff member to retrieve and bring them
the items.286 Since the distribution centers are on the reservation, program participants do not have to travel long distances to
obtain food.
The 2018 farm bill made some changes in FDPIR to increase cultural sensitivity and economic equity. Perhaps the two most
significant changes are a new $5 million demonstration project authorizing tribes to purchase food for the FDPIR under “638”
tribal self-determination contracts, and the addition of “regionally grown” to the FDPIR purchase provision for traditional
foods.287 Both changes empower Indigenous farmers and respect regional dietary and cultural differences among tribes.
The second nutrition program that falls outside SNAP is a group of block grants for food assistance in Puerto Rico,
American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands, known as Nutrition Assistance Block Grants (NABG).288 Through
these block grants, each territory administers the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP). NAP functions slightly differently in
each territory. In Puerto Rico, households receive a monthly benefit, composed of 25 percent cash and 75 percent non-cash
Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) amount, which can be used at grocery stores to purchase food.289 The entire benefit, cash and
non-cash, may only be used to purchase eligible food items. In the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, 30 percent of
a household’s NAP monthly benefits must be spent on locally grown, raised, caught, or processed food products. Households
can decide to spend the remaining 70 percent on local or imported food products, as they choose.290
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