The federal government wants to expand retailers that accept food stamps online

Shirin Ali | July 7, 2022

Story at a glance

  • The federal government is launching a grant program to push more retailers to accept the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) online.

  • It’s an attempt to give low-income families that participate in SNAP more online shopping options, as many reside in food deserts.

  • Those are areas that lack accessible and affordable health food options.

The U.S. government is trying to entice more retailers to offer online shopping options for those Americans that use the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) — known as food stamps.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a new $5 million grant program, the SNAP EBT Modernization Technical Assistance Center, which will offer funding to retailers that need help launching online shops that accept SNAP.

The effort is fueled by the growing presence of online shopping — especially for groceries.

Currently, most retailers that offer SNAP online are larger grocery chains that already have an established online shopping foundation — including Walgreens, 7-Eleven, Target, Whole Foods Market and Kroger.

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However, many SNAP participants struggle to make it to a physical grocery store, as many reside in food deserts — areas where it’s difficult to buy good quality, fresh food.

“Online grocery shopping is a vital resource that improves access and convenience for all, including low-income families,” said Stacy Dean, USDA’s deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition, and consumer services.

Many local retailers lack resources to run an ecommerce business, but USDA hopes this grant will help bridge that gap. In addition to funding, the agency intends to offer technical support to help develop existing sites or launch brand new ones.

USDA is also developing a pilot program to allow SNAP participants to use their smart phones to buy groceries at physical stores by allowing them to input their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card into a mobile device.

In May 2022, USDA says just over 3 million SNAP households shopped online — a huge jump from March 2020 when only 35,000 shopped online. USDA attributes that to the agency’s expansion of its pilot program that resulted in 130 retailers representing thousands of stores being added to SNAP.

As of September 30, 2021, USDA says there were about 254,000 firms authorized to participate in SNAP, ranging from convenience stores to bakeries to large and medium-sized grocery stores.

Under federal rules, a household’s income generally must be at or below 130 percent of the poverty line in order to qualify for SNAP and benefits are distributed based on household size. The program plays a crucial role in helping low-wage workers afford a basic diet.

In 2021, roughly 14.49 million Americans lived in households that participated in SNAP, with many working as cashiers, cooks, home health aides and janitors.

USDA’s SNAP EBT Modernization Technical Assistance Center is currently accepting applications now through Sept. 6 and selected grantees will be announced in the fall later this year.

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