Every now and then a headline makes me gasp: Deena Shankar’s article in Bloomberg News begins: It’s been just about a year since the US government slashed additional pandemic-related food-stamp benefits, and some of the companies that make and sell food are seeing that hit their sales. As she

Here’s what’s going on. SNAP costs are high SNAP data table, participation and costs: In 2022, 41 million SNAP participants received an average benefit of $230 per month for a total yearly cost of $119.2 billion ($113.7 billion in benefits plus $5.5 billion in administrative costs).

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report complaining about the Biden administration’s update of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). The Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) describes how much it costs to eat a healthy diet on a limited budget, and is the basis for maximum Supplemental

Everyfive years or so, Congress gets to work on a new Farm Bill.  This is a big job. I’ve written about the Farm Bill previously.  See, for example, my opinion piece in Politico: “The Farm Bill drove me insane.” Here are two recent publications to get you started. The Congressional Research

The USDA has released its annual report on food assistance.   What Did This Study Find? Spending on USDA’s domestic food and nutrition assistance programs reached a historic high of $182.5 billion. (it was $127.5 billion in 2020). The increase was primarily driven by increases in USDA’s