Kingston’s Food Policy Bites
Issue 3: December 2024
Welcome to the third edition of Kingston’s Food Policy Bites!
A quick note to say that we’ve received positive feedback about this pilot, so we will be keeping it going forward in 2025! Food Policy Bites will be regularly released next year on a quarterly basis.
This month we’re taking a deeper dive into one of its components, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, otherwise known as SNAP. We’ll focus on providing a snapshot for how SNAP works, the benefits and barriers, and how it stacks up to charitable food as a way to address food insecurity.
A SNAP Overview
What is SNAP? SNAP is a food assistance program funded through the federal Farm Bill for Americans with a low income.
Who does SNAP help? SNAP supports over 41 million Americans annually, ⅔ of which are kids, seniors, or people living with disabilities.
How does SNAP work? SNAP provides cash payments via an electronic benefits (EBT) card to purchase eligible items at participating retailers. The amount is based on the lowest monthly cost of food, determined by the USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, which was last updated in 2021 to allow families the flexibility to purchase more healthy foods.
Previous updates were made to the Thrifty Food Plan at the Secretary of Agriculture’s discretion. However, the 2018 Farm Bill mandated that the Thrifty Food Plan must now be re-evaluated every 5 years based upon current food prices, food composition data, consumption patterns, and dietary guidance.
How does someone qualify for SNAP? SNAP supports people who make a low income, are unemployed, receive welfare or other public assistance payments, are elderly, are disabled and low income, or are homeless. Eligibility is determined by each state.
In New York, the primary rule is income eligibility based upon family size, the federal poverty level, and whether the applicant is working, elderly, disabled, or has out of pocket dependent care costs. See example chart below from NY.Gov for income guidelines for households with earned income. More information can be found at https://www.ny.gov/services/apply-snap.
SNAP in Kingston/Ulster County
Who Receives SNAP in Kingston?
One in every ten residents of Ulster County relies on SNAP to feed their families. In urban areas like Kingston and Saugerties, even more people use SNAP. Using census data in some census tracts, over 26% of households are eligible for benefits. So how far does that go? In New York, the average monthly SNAP benefit per person is around $200.
That is less than $7 per day to feed oneself. To provide a little more context, according to Hunger Solutions New York the average monthly pre-pandemic SNAP benefit for a “household with a family” in New York was $384. Fast forward a few years, and the average cost of weekly groceries for a “household with kids” according to Census Bureau’s Household pulse survey is $331, for a monthly total of more than $1300.
Where Can SNAP Be Used in Kingston?
SNAP can only be used at participating locations that have been approved as an eligible retailer by the USDA. Approximately 14 food retail locations accept SNAP/WIC, which is less than 25% of the total food retail locations in Kingston and roughly 25% fewer than the average for cities of similar size. Furthermore, these locations are concentrated in Uptown and along Broadway in Midtown, with no outlets accepting SNAP and/or WIC in the Rondout. There are clear opportunities for improvement here!
However, becoming a participating location does have some requirements that may be considered barriers by smaller retailers. To be eligible, the store can qualify one of two ways through the stocking of staples foods: Vegetables/Fruits, Dairy, Meat/Poultry/Fish, and Breads/Cereals.
Criteria A: Staple Food Inventory Requirement
The store must have a minimum of 36 staple food items according to the following criteria.
Figure 1: SNAP Retailer Eligibility Criteria A Categories
Source: USDA Food & Nutrition Services For more information: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailer/eligible
Criteria B: Staple Food Sales Requirement
Staple foods must be more than half store’s total gross retail sales.
Figure 2: SNAP Retailer Eligibility Criteria B Categories
Source: USDA Food & Nutrition Services For more information: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailer/eligible
They must then apply online, and once approved purchase EBT equipment and services on their own. There are some exceptions, such as stores in an area with limited SNAP access to food. Additionally, New York State participates in the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP), which allows SNAP to be used at eligible restaurants. However, this program is in its pilot phase and is not available in Kingston or Ulster County yet.
A bright spot for Kingston is that SNAP can be used in multiple ways for local, farm fresh foods like farm stands (see KEFC Affordable Food Map for more details), CSA programs (register through CSA is a SNAP and receive 50% discount!), and the Kingston Farmers’ Market.
Spotlighting the last location, SNAP at the Kingston Farmers’ Market is an excellent way to also stretch fresh food dollars. Through the FreshConnect Fresh2You initiative, SNAP now has double the buying power with a dollar-for-dollar match up to $50 per day.
Benefits of SNAP
SNAP has economic benefits. Simply put, SNAP is effective. A 2010 report from the USDA Economic Research Service found that SNAP reduced the likelihood
of being food insecure by about 30%, and the program lifted 2.88 million Americans out of poverty in 2019 (see Appendix 7 here). And its economic benefits are not limited to the SNAP recipient; SNAP also benefits whole communities along with the federal economy. Every $1 spent on SNAP generates $1.54 in economic activity. In some neighborhoods, SNAP payments make up half of a store’s revenue.
SNAP has health benefits. There is extensive evidence that demonstrates a strong correlation between food insecurity and chronic health conditions. Adults in households with very low food security are 40% more likely to be diagnosed with at least one chronic disease. By increasing food security, SNAP helps to increase health outcomes by enabling people to purchase healthier food, freeing up resources for other health needs, such as medical care or prescription medications. In fact, adults receiving SNAP incur about 25% less ($1400) in medical care costs annually than adults not receiving SNAP. The savings are even higher for those with hypertension and coronary heart disease, ~$2700 and $4100, respectively.
Another way that SNAP can improve health through improved food security is the possible reduction in stress. We now know that chronic stress can contribute to not only poor mental health and unhealthy coping habits, but also poor physical health through mechanisms like high levels of cortisol that impacts the body’s ability to effectively manage blood sugar levels. Over time this can lead to an increased risk of chronic conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
Check out this FRAC Report on The Impact of Poverty, Food Insecurity, and Poor Nutrition on Health and Well-Being for more information.
Barriers to SNAP
While the benefits of SNAP are clear, that doesn’t mean it always has the impact it’s looking for. There are are many barriers to SNAP participation and impact:
- Concerns about a lengthy, complicated application process. In Kingston, People’s Place has a Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) coordinator who can help navigate this process.
- Immigration status concerns, for oneself and for family members. DACA recipients, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, undocumented immigrants, and certain visa holders are currently excluded from SNAP. Equity Advocates’ SNAP4All has more information on this, and the Ulster Immigrant Defense Network provides extensive support to immigrants locally.
- Accessibility– both the cost of food and number of food retail stores that accept SNAP
- Shame, stigma, or otherwise reluctance to ask for help
- Logistical barriers, such as transportation or required documentation. Thankfully, SNAP applications can be submitted online and interviews can be done by a phone call!
- Administrative delays– Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 requires that states provide SNAP benefits to households within 30 days of filing a standard application. When measured in December 2022, over 46% of Ulster County applicants had been waiting more than 30 days for the return of their applications. To reduce these delays, the staff budget for the County department reviewing applications has been increased, and more people are being trained.
SNAP vs the Charitable Food System
The charitable food system, aka food pantries, community and soup kitchens, fill a much needed gap in our current food system. According to the most recent Ulster Corps Food Pantries and Meal Programs map, there are at least 13 open food access programs in Kingston and 43 locations in all of Ulster County. This is remarkable! Yet barriers remain to accessing these resources. Limited hours (only 2 local food pantries offer limited weekend hours and just 3 offer weekday hours after 5pm one day per week) makes it difficult for working adults to pick up food.
Alternatively, despite some of the barriers previously shared, SNAP still provides NINE TIMES more food than all of the 200 food banks through Feeding America. And while many free food programs are working hard to reduce stigma and shame, allowing people to procure food from stores where people are also purchasing without SNAP benefits may be considered more socially acceptable be some.
SNAP is both an incredibly complex program and a simple idea. It is also one of the most extensively researched, administered, and monitored social benefit programs that we have in the United States. And while the charitable food system does help to alleviate hunger, it has nowhere close to the scale of impact that SNAP does on food insecurity.
Additionally, SNAP is both incredibly effective and has room for improvement. While there are certainly opportunities on a state or federal level, there are also ways that cities can support food security by highlighting enrollment initiatives like People’s Place’s NOEP coordinator to reduce barriers to application along with connecting with food retail locations to understand and possibly help reduce barriers to SNAP participation, like the CalFresh Healthy Living Market Implementation Guide by the County of San Diego or technical assistance to independent grocery stores and co-ops provided by the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs.
To be a part of this food access work in Kingston:
- Follow Live Well Kingston on Facebook and Instagram
- Sign up for future Food Policy Bites
- Reach out to kkessler@kingston-ny.gov to sign up for the Eat Well Kingston listserv and/or check out our Events page for upcoming meetings
