Breadth of Largest USDA Program Increased After Recession

(WASHINGTON, DC) Though USDA programs like crop insurance and direct payments see the most scrutiny, they are not the largest programs administered under the Agriculture Department’s umbrella. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest program at USDA. During the fiscal year 2014, benefits were provided to an average of more than 46 million recipients per month, while accounting for 52 percent of USDA’s spending. That same year, SNAP recipients redeemed more than $69 billion worth of benefits at SNAP-authorized stores: 83 percent of which were located in urban areas while 17 percent were in rural areas. Between 2000 and 2013, average monthly participation nearly tripled, while the inflation-adjusted value of benefits paid under the program nearly quadrupled. The growth in program participation and the value of benefits paid were particularly rapid during and immediately after the Great Recession (December 2007 through June 2009). The increase in program spending between 2009 and 2013 was due in part to rising SNAP participation in response to high levels of poverty during this period. A temporary increase in benefit rates mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in early 2009 and other policies to increase access to the program also likely expanded SNAP participation and spending.