ABSTRACT
Food stamps play an important role in America’s safety net, especially during economic downturns. As of April 2012, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the food stamp program, provided assistance to 46.2 million (one in seven) Americans in 22.1 million households. 1 Even with an improving economy, SNAP enrolled 47.8 million people at the end of 2012. SNAP, an entitlement, has become the most important means-tested, non-health-care assistance program in the United States. Beyond the scope of this book, there are some seventeen other domestic food and nutrition assistance programs, including the National School Lunch Program; the School Breakfast Program; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. 2
