A student holding a lunch tray; the contents include a sandwich, greens, and other veggies. Legislation like school meals for all or SNAP can help ensure every kid has access to a nourishing meal at school.

The federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known commonly as SNAP (and still sometimes better known by its former name, food stamps), has undergone some significant and controversial changes since 2025. To understand what all the debate is about, let’s start with the basics: how it works, who it’s for, and why it matters.

What is SNAP?

SNAP is a federal program that helps make food more affordable for more than 41 million Americans, or roughly 1 in every 8 people in the country. SNAP recipients can use funds to buy food and beverages, with some exceptions (such as alcohol or some prepared foods like takeout). Established in 1964, with roots stretching as far back as the Great Depression, SNAP was known until 2008 as the Food Stamp Program. Today it is the largest nutrition assistance program funded by the federal government. 

How does SNAP work?

Funding for SNAP is approved by Congress every five years as part of the Farm Bill, a massive legislation package covering a wide range of food and agricultural programs. Those funds are overseen by the USDA and administered by states, who distribute funds to approved participants. Residents can apply through their state agency, and those who are approved receive an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card, with funds added monthly. EBT cards, which work like a debit card, can be used at most major grocery stores, convenience stores, superstores and wholesale clubs (like Walmart and Costco), and some farmers markets. The USDA has a search tool to find retailers and local businesses that accept SNAP in your area.

SNAP’s core funding still runs through the Farm Bill cycle, but the most consequential 2025 changes arrived through a separate budget reconciliation bill — a reminder that policy affecting the program can shift outside the usual five-year rhythm.

Who uses SNAP? Am I eligible?

While some nutrition assistance programs are for specific groups (like school meal programs for children or WIC for currently and recently pregnant people), SNAP is available to anyone who is struggling to afford food, based on their income, household size, and other factors, with criteria updated yearly. This makes SNAP recipients a diverse group that includes working adults, children, older adults, veterans, and people with disabilities. Children make up close to 40% of everyone who receives SNAP benefits. To find out if you or your household is eligible, reach out to your state agency or local SNAP office to learn how to apply.

What are the benefits of SNAP?

The purpose of SNAP is to ensure everyone has access to food, regardless of income. To that end, it’s been historically very effective, efficient, and essential—especially for nourishing our kids. From October 2023 to September 2024, SNAP helped families feed more than 15 million children. The economic case for the program is equally clear: SNAP helped move a meaningful share of participating households out of poverty in the same period, making it a lifeline for families and individuals enduring rising costs, income instability, disability, and other hardships.

Communities benefit too: every dollar of SNAP funds generates upward of $1.50 in economic activity—even more in economic slumps—boosting local businesses and supply chains and creating jobs when the need is high. Funding this program is an investment not only in individuals’ health and well-being, but in the health of our communities and economy.

How does SNAP affect school meals?

Children in households that receive SNAP are automatically eligible for free school meals and are typically certified through a data-matching process, without their families having to complete a separate school meal application. SNAP participation also helps schools qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP. Schools, groups of schools, and school districts where at least 25% of students are certified for free meals without an application may choose to participate in CEP and provide free breakfast and lunch to every student. And the program’s benefits go beyond reducing child hunger, with studies linking SNAP to improvements in children’s health and academic performance.

What is SNAP-Ed?

SNAP-Education, or SNAP-Ed, was established in 1992 to offer nutrition education in response to diet-related health disparities among SNAP-eligible individuals and households compared with the general population. For over 30 years, the only federally funded food education program has provided resources on planning and preparing nutritious meals and making the most of SNAP dollars, while also supporting food education directly in schools. Studies have linked SNAP-Ed to increases in fruit and vegetable consumption and decreased hunger. 

Unfortunately, in 2025 this program was defunded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), the sweeping federal budget law signed July 4, 2025. The same law made some of the most significant changes to the program in decades: it expanded work requirements for adults up to age 64, shifted new administrative and benefit costs onto states, and narrowed eligibility for lawfully present non-citizens. FoodCorps is advocating alongside partners nationwide to restore this funding, because losing it means fewer families get the tools to make the most of their SNAP benefits.

Protect food access and food education: Create an Advocacy Profile to stay informed about changes to SNAP and raise your voice for kids and families.

Related read: How Are School Meals Funded? | “The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 was arguably the most significant update to school meals since the birth of the modern federal breakfast and lunch programs. One reason: the Community Eligibility Provision. The Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP, allows schools to provide every student with breakfast and lunch without requiring households to submit school meal applications.“