Opinion: The SNAP decision: Why and how cuts will hurt recipients, farmers and PA’s economy

Out of the 40,000 different food items you might see in a larger supermarket, ground beef is one of the most commonly purchased by both SNAP and non-SNAP households, up there with a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and poultry. The biggest difference between a SNAP household and a non-SNAP household? An EBT card and some tough times – not what they buy. 

In fact, when it comes to food items purchased by SNAP households – an overwhelming majority of which include at least one member who is a child, an elderly adult, or person with a disability – the top 10 categories and top seven specific commodities are the same, though ordered differently. The reason is simple: SNAP families are regular families who happen to need some temporary assistance putting food on the table.

When the United States Department of Agriculture studied this issue, they found that about 40 cents of every dollar of food expenditures by SNAP households is spent on basic items such as meat, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs and bread. Another 40 cents is spent on a variety of items such as cereal, prepared foods, dairy products, rice, and beans. The last 20 cents out of every dollar typically goes on sweetened beverages, desserts, salty snacks, candy and sugar. For non-SNAP households? Pretty much the same.

And just as important, the economic activity that SNAP purchases support is exactly the same as from a non-SNAP household. Grocers don’t order SNAP ground beef and non-SNAP ground beef. Beef is beef. Milk is milk. Bananas are bananas.

Businesses along Pennsylvania’s food supply chain - from your local grocery and convenience store, to wholesale and distribution companies, food producers and farmers – all benefit from SNAP, arguably the most successful public-private partnership in American history.

Recent events and some back-of-the-napkin math bear it out. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government introduced SNAP Emergency Allotments (EAs) to help address rising food insecurity. These were temporary, additional payments to households receiving SNAP benefits. EAs provided SNAP households an additional $95 in benefits per month at minimum. When EAs ended in March 2023, the Department of Human Services reported an average loss of $181 per SNAP household across Pennsylvania. Beyond what that loss meant for families themselves – and we know it meant increased food insecurity, greater reliance on food pantries, and heightened financial stress – for businesses in the food sector it meant, quite literally, less food being purchased, and therefore ordered and produced. With more than a million SNAP households in Pennsylvania each losing an average of $181, we can estimate a direct contraction of almost $189 million per month in the state’s food economy when the emergency allotments ended. Of course, the true economic impact was larger than that because we know that for every dollar invested in SNAP, there is an impact worth more than $1.50 that goes into local economies supporting those businesses getting food to store shelves, and the people they employ.

As you read this, Congress is contemplating massive changes to how SNAP is funded. While exact figures remain the subject of negotiation, the upshot is that a sea change could be on the way that would fundamentally alter how food assistance works in the United States, with potentially catastrophic impacts not just to SNAP recipients but your local supermarket, food producers, and farmers across Pennsylvania.

There are always opportunities and ways to improve the way government programs work, and we should be clear-eyed about taking on that challenge when it comes to SNAP. But the fact is it remains a highly popular and massively successful program that fundamentally achieves what it sets out to do: provide temporary assistance to families who need help putting food on the table.

SNAP also means a great deal to the farmers, truck drivers, warehouse workers, and food sellers in our communities, who all benefit from the added demand the program helps support. Pennsylvanians – including the members of our congressional delegation – should not lose sight of that as work on a federal budget reaches a climax in Washington.