Poor households spend most of their food stamp money (nearly 75%) on vegetables, fruits, grain products, meat, and meat alternatives, according to a study released in April. Lower-cost red meats (7.8%) and milk and yogurt (7.6%) account for the largest shares of food consumed at home. That’s the finding of a report titled “Building a Healthy America: A Profile of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” and published by the Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Research and Analysis, in the United States Department of Agriculture.
SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps) is “the foundation of America’s national nutrition safety net” and one that “offers a powerful tool to improve nutrition among low-income people,” the authors write. In fiscal year 2011, SNAP served nearly 45 million people, or about one in seven Americans.