USDA’s nutrition assistance programs provide healthy food for Americans who work hard but struggle to fill their plates. Last year, more than 49 million Americans lived in households that had difficulty putting food on the table. The USDA nutrition assistance programs provide a modern and effective nutrition safety net. As we begin the new year, we’d like to share some key facts about the positive impact of the federal nutrition assistance programs.
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
- Over the past year, USDA has helped millions of Americans through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). More than half of SNAP recipients are children and the elderly, and only 8% receive cash welfare.
- At the same time, our efforts to crack down on fraud and abuse while modernizing the SNAP program have led to one of the lowest error rates in history for the program and a fraud rate of 1.3%.
WIC (Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children)
- USDA undertook historic improvements to the range of healthy food offered in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).
- The program now includes more whole grains, fruits and vegetables – the first comprehensive changes to the WIC program in 30 years – based on expert scientific recommendations.
For more information, visit www.fns.usda.gov/wic.
