The issue of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) has been much in the news.  Let’s revisit what this program does and for whom.  About 42 million recipients living in 22 million households use SNAP.  Benefits average $187 per person per month and cost the government about $8 billion monthly.  In 2025, the maximum monthly benefit for one person is $292; for a household of four, it’s $925.  This amount depends on which state recipients live in and whether anyone in the household has a steady income or is a dependent.  SNAP cannot be used for anything other than unprepared food (excluding things like personal hygiene items, diapers, OTC medications, cleaning supplies, etc.). Recipients, with few exceptions, must be U.S. citizens.  Green card holders and permanent residents must wait five years to receive benefits.  Nearly 90 percent of SNAP recipients are native-born American citizens with another six percent naturalized citizens (USDA report for fiscal year 2023).  About 40 percent of recipients are children under 18 and about 20 percent are over 60. Policies effective November 1 will change several eligibility requirements. These include lowering the age of children from 18 to 14 for purposes of caregiver exemption from work requirements and ending this exemption for the homeless, veterans, and people under 24 who had aged out of foster care.  Able-bodied adults under 64 must meet new work requirements; previously it was 54.  SNAP currently provides nine times the volume of food assistance as all the nation’s food banks combined.