Applying Racial Equity to U.S. Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs - Flipbook - Page 17
Racial Equity in SNAP
SNAP applies an equity lens in several ways. First, it is an entitlement program—meaning that people who qualify based on
income and other eligibility criteria are entitled to benefits. Entitlement status expands the program’s reach in communities
with high food insecurity rates and enables it to respond to increased need during economic downturns. This and other
equitable aspects of SNAP are summarized below:
Table 1: How SNAP Promotes Equity
Policy Aspects
How This Promotes Equity
1. It is available to
those who need it
SNAP’s entitlement structure provides money to income-eligible households
to purchase food. Communities of color are disproportionately represented
among both food insecure households and households that have, in the
words of the U.S. government, very low food security.48 This structure is vital to
ensuring that everyone who needs SNAP is able to access it (see glossary).
2. Benefits expand
with family size
This policy helps provide food security for each member of the household.
3. Participants select
their own food
Recipients can choose what to eat, although their ability to choose a
healthy diet also assumes that they have access to a grocery store that
carries a variety of fresh foods. Requiring participants to choose from a
predetermined list of foods is paternalistic. SNAP excludes only pre-made
foods such as items from hot bars.
4. SNAP benefits are
accessed through
Electronic Benefits
Transfer (EBT) cards
Researchers report that accessing benefits through EBT cards has reduced
the stigma of using SNAP benefits, which has contributed in the past to
lower participation rates.50 The previous “food stamp” vouchers were not as
widely accepted.
SNAP policies do not penalize households based on parents’ marital status,
as some earlier anti-hunger and anti-poverty policies did. Such policies
disproportionately hurt households of color.49
Table 2: How the SNAP Alternative—the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations
(FDPIR)—Promotes Equity
Policy Aspects
How This Promotes Equity
The Food Distribution
Program on Indian
Reservations (FDPIR)
addresses some
barriers reported by
Indigenous communities.
USDA established an alternative to SNAP, the Food Distribution Program
on Indian Reservations (FDPIR), because of the long distances that some
residents of reservations must travel to reach a fully stocked grocery store.51
FDPIR provides a monthly package of commodities. Families who are
eligible for both programs must choose one in any given month. About 85
percent of Indigenous people who qualify for SNAP also qualify for FDPIR.
FDPIR requires less documentation from applicants, making the application
process easier. Administrative offices are located on the reservation and
staffed by Indigenous people. FDPIR also offers home delivery services for
elderly beneficiaries.
These accommodations are the result of USDA’s efforts to take into account
the needs of the communities being served.
A BREAD FOR THE WORLD INSTITUTE SPECIAL REPORT
17
