Enough To Make You Snap

Media focus on the government shutdown has shifted to food stamps (now referred to as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ("SNAP") in that the federal government has told states that federal dollars will not be available to fund the program in November.

Participants in the SNAP program access their monthly benefit through an EBT card that is similar to a debit card for approved items.

This in itself has removed much of the social stigma of using food stamps as those who use an EBT card are indistinguishable from anyone using a credit or debit card. That was not the case in the past when actual stamps had to be used at checkout.

I have written about SNAP and EBT cards in the past and the growth of the program over the years.

This has included the waste, fraud and abuse that accompanies the program.

When food stamps were first introduced in 1965 only 500,000 were receiving food stamps.

In 2025 there are currently an average of 42 million (12% of the population) taking advantage of the program every month.

You get some additional perspective on the size of the program when you consider that there are more individuals on food stamps in the United States than the entire population of countries like Argentina, Poland, Canada, Venezuela and North Korea.

SNAP costs the American taxpayers more than $10 billion per month which is actually down from the Covid years when almost 47 million were on the program at a cost of over $140 billion per year.

However, the cost of food stamps today is double what it was as recently as 2019.

Credit: https://x.com/america/status/1983278247615050197

SNAP has become a big revenue producer for big business.

Large supermarket chains derive a reported 7.5% of total revenues from food stamps.

WalMart reportedly captures an astounding one in four food stamp purchases. 

This amounts to $30 billion per year.

Let's put that in context. If WalMart spun off a separate entity for its food stamp sales alone, those revenues would rank in the top 150 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest U.S. corporations.

Until several states recently began to restrict the use of SNAP benefits for items such as sugary drinks and candy, desserts and salty snacks. 20% of food stamp purchases were spent in these categories.

What I have found astounding in my recent research of the SNAP program are the total amounts that the monthly benefits can be.

Benefits are calculated based on a combination of household income and size.

The maximum monthly benefit for a family of four is almost $1,000 per month.

The average benefit is approximately $750 per month.

Instead of being a supplemental nutrition program this looks to be total nutrition program.

Source: https://www.snapscreener.com/blog/annual-snap-update/texas

Bear in mind that this is tax-free money.

It is not subject to FICA or income tax.

A family of four who is not on food stamps would generally have to earn 10-40% more in order to have the equivalent amount of spending power to match this benefit.

This is one of the reasons that SNAP households actually spend more on food than first or second quartile income households that are not on SNAP.

How can it be that spending on SNAP has doubled since 2019 even though the unemployment rate is still near the lowest level it has been the last 50 years?

Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS14000024

In theory, SNAP spending should also closely track poverty levels.

However, the number living in poverty is largely unchanged since 2019 but spending on food stamps has doubled.

Note as well that the percentage of the population living at or below the poverty level in the United States is at about the lowest it has ever been.

Source: https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/2025/demo/p60-287/figure1.pdf

Some of the increase in SNAP spending is due to inflation but that explains no more than a third of the increase.

However, over the years what is considered to be SNAP eligible has been expanded.

It has been expanded to include payments for fast food purchases and at convenience stores.

Source: https://foodstampsnow.com/fast-food-restaurants-that-accept-ebt-food-stamps/#google_vignette

Door Dash even advertises that it is SNAP eligible for purchases at 7-Eleven. The delivery fee is not SNAP eligible.

You can also buy caviar or get espresso capsules for your Nespresso machine with your EBT card.

A third reason appears to be that a number of people got used to the free benefits from Covid and decided that they would rather not work and the food stamp program enabled many to do just that.

The reforms in the Big Beautiful Bill are intended to insure that able-bodied adults without dependents must work (or be in school) or they will be denied benefits.

Finally, the enormous number of migrants, many who entered the country illegally, have been added to the SNAP rolls in many states. over the last five years.

The exact number is uncertain.

At the beginning of the Trump administration 21 blue states refused to turn over their SNAP data so it could be verified that illegal immigrants were not receiving benefits.

Link: https://x.com/SecRollins/status/1985007736896053318

It is beyond me as to how any state can defy the federal government in turning over this data since it is the U.S. taxpayers who are footing the bill for food stamps?

However, consider this data that breaks down the percentage of various ethnicities residing in the United States who are receiving SNAP benefits.

This data points to a fundamental problem with our immigration system.

Not all of these SNAP beneficiaries are "illegal". 

Some may be here on some type of legal status. 

What is clear is that many who are in the United States are not capable of supporting themselves

When people come into the country (legally or illegally) without sufficient education, job or language skills, there is a high likelihood that they will become dependent on the government for support.

Compare the percent of Afghans and Somalians on SNAP benefits (46% and 42%) to the percent of Indians (4%).

My hope is that the Democrats will come to their senses and vote to restore federal government spending this week.

The Democrats in the Senate have voted 13 times not to fund the government with a clean continuing resolution. 

This has included votes that attempted to pay the military, essential workers and fund SNAP benefits.

At the same time, Democrats are attempting to blame President Trump and the Republicans for the government shutdown.

However, Trump has shown no signs of caving to Democrat demands despite the fact that we are only two days away from this becoming the longest ever government shutdown.

My guess is that once we get beyond Tuesday's election the Democrats will be more likely to finally give in on a losing battle. They apparently do not want to settle this before then as they are trying to use the shutdown to energize the Democrat base in the Virgina, New Jersey and New York City elections.

The sad story here is that there are a lot of people who really need the food assistance.

However, as shown above, there is a lot of waste, fraud and abuse in the SNAP program.

It is badly in need of reform that goes far beyond what was done in the Big, Beautiful Bill.

My hope is that this political drama will mean that the food stamp program gets more attention now that these hard, cold, facts are getting more exposure.

The hard working Americans who are supporting the program with their tax dollars, while also have to manage their own food budget, deserve nothing less.

For them, SNAP benefits are enough to make them want to snap.