#Kansas food stamps plus

Help spread the word about SNAP to make sure the federal tax dollars we are already spending for the program come back to benefit our friends and neighbors. The Food Assistance Program serves as the first line of defense against hunger. In fact, SNAP benefits pumped about $342 million into Kansas in 2016 alone.īut not all people who truly need food assistance get it-only 74% of all eligible Kansans are receiving SNAP benefits. In Kansas, the program is known as the Food Assistance Program.

#Kansas food stamps plus

$1 in SNAP purchases generates $1.70 in economic activity, a real plus in a weak economy. This helps our ag-dependent economy and brings in more grocery stores and farmers’ markets to our communities, reducing the number of food deserts and making it easier for all of us to access healthy food. SNAP benefits make it easier for many Kansas families to afford groceries, increasing the demand for fresh food. So how does SNAP assistance to people in food deserts add up to better-quality food for all Kansas consumers? There are probably families in your neighborhood struggling to find or afford healthy food. Twenty percent of Kansas households participating in SNAP are in small towns and rural areas. Lack of access to healthy food doesn’t just affect people in big cities. People living in these areas may be forced to shop at convenience stores, which carry mostly processed or sugary foods lacking in nutritional value, simply because they happen to live too far from a real grocery store. According to the USDA, a food desert is usually caused by a lack of grocery stores, farmers markets and healthy food providers, and many big cities actually have many food deserts.

Scope: population of Kansas, selected places in Kansas, and entities. You may have heard of a “food desert,” which means an area where people have limited access to fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods. Food Stamp recipients as a percentage of all households.

SNAP helps provide all of us with better-quality food. The SNAP program also helps those who can’t work-like elderly and disabled people-afford adequate food. The average monthly SNAP benefit for each household member is $112, or around $1.12 per meal. With almost 17% of Kansas children living below the poverty line, the food assistance program is essential to help parents afford wholesome, nutritious food for their kids, making them healthier and more successful in school.Ĩ2% of SNAP recipients in Kansas have at least one working household member and are using food assistance to help them make ends meet. More than 75% of SNAP participants in Kansas are families with children.