Talk:Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

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Plagiarism in History section.

The entire History section of this article is verbatim lifted from this source.

https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/short-history-snap#1939 128.194.176.216 (talk) 16:32, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

US government sources can be used verbatim. Improved citation to clarify 〜 Adflatuss • talk 02:52, 10 August 2023 (UTC)

In this article I think addressing more about the food insecurity and poverty side of SNAP would be beneficial for the readers. Addressing how SNAP has aided in food insecurity and food access could shed light on how the federal government has taken action to medicate this issue. The article needs to expand on the statistics and research that have looked at how many individuals in poverty are having the ability to become more food insecure when gaining SNAP as a tool.Avaellea (talk) 22:53, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Global Poverty and Practice

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation–supported course assignment, between 23 August 2023 and 20 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Avaellea (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Urmilav, Aksgpp3131.

— Assignment last updated by Laguan0206 (talk) 22:10, 20 December 2023 (UTC)

Pop Train Section Citations

All citations of the “Pop Train Scheme” link to 404 and look to have been the same author/story. There is no evidence this was a real thing. This section should be removed. Not sure if I used the right tag, I’m new to this!Mpalley (talk) 13:09, 31 March 2024 (UTC)

@Mpalley: I've improved the citations of § Pop Train. We seem to have some local news reports indicating that it was a regular practice of at least one person in Jackson, Kentucky. The news reports indicate that this wasn't illegal until fairly recently, so it's possible that this was a legal business at one time, or even that the individual running it was unaware that it had been made illegal. Regardless, I'm inclined to regard it as WP:UNDUE given the size of this national program. We should only discuss statistics of the scale of fraud, not report on individual trivial instances of fraud. Daask (talk) 16:42, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Participants Section

After reviewing the following information on the first paragraph " A summary statistical report indicated that an average of 44.2 million people used the program in FY 2016, down from 45.8 million in 2015 and below the 2013 peak of 47.6 million." I followed the link and it takes me to a archived website with most of the links in it as "Page or Content Not Found".

There a very few that work but the latest data was for 2012 which is not consistent with the statistical report that was indicated. After further research I did find a better annual report that depicts the information more accurately. On page 10 it notes that 2016 had a 3 percent down from the previous years but a significant 7 percent drop from 2013.

https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/82994/EIB-169.pdf#:~:text=The%20Supplemental%20Nutrition%20Assistance%20Program%20(SNAP)%E2%80%94formerly%20the,third%20consecutive%20year%20that%20partici%2D%20pation%20decreased.

--AppliedMoɹalz (talk) 20:43, 27 October 2025 (UTC)

2025 issues and shutdown: Needed its own article.

This is the first time in the history of the program that it's been litigated in federal court whatsoever. Even by the standards of the federal government shutdown, this is sui generis. Hence 2025 SNAP Shutdown. kencf0618 (talk) 18:15, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Contemporary Moral Issues

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation–supported course assignment, between 26 October 2025 and 8 December 2025. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): AppliedMoɹalz, Llanyu, Manchen Huang (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Manchen Huang (talk) 21:05, 16 November 2025 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Contemporary Moral Issues

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation–supported course assignment, between 3 March 2026 and 17 April 2026. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Skaggs.b (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Anna Palfy (talk) 17:04, 15 March 2026 (UTC)

Planned updates

I'm a policy researcher with expertise in SNAP and federal benefit programs. Heads up that I'm planning to make a series of incremental improvements to this article over the coming weeks, starting with updating the immigrant eligibility and work requirement sections to reflect the OBBBA (HR1) changes. I'm hoping to also update some of the basic descriptive data about the program -- the participation charts end in 2016. It's a long time since I've edited wikipedia, so if I mess something up, please let me know.

Section 1.18 (on corporate influence) feels out of place for the history section but am not sure where it belongs.

Izbit (talk) 23:33, 17 March 2026 (UTC)

Additional sections and sources

Adding Background, Research, and Debate Sections

I added a '''Background''' section providing context on how SNAP compares to WIC and why sugar-sweetened beverages are the focus of the restriction debate, sourced from the USDA Economic Research Service (Ver Ploeg et al. 2015) and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

I added a '''Research on restrictions''' section summarizing the evidence on whether restrictions improve dietary quality, using a 2025 Healthy Eating Research review (Reed et al.) and a ''Health Affairs'' analysis of the 12 approved state waivers (Chrisinger 2025).

I added a '''Debate''' section presenting both supporter and opponent arguments in neutral, encyclopedic tone, sourced from academic literature (Le Grand 2003), government sources, and news coverage. All sources are peer-reviewed journals, government reports, or established news outlets. I've aimed for neutral tone throughout, so presenting both pro-restriction and anti-restriction evidence.

Sources Used:

1. Reed, L., Johnson, J., Lott, M., & Story, M. (2025). The Current State of Knowledge on SNAP Restrictions and Disincentives. Healthy Eating Research, Durham, NC.

2. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "Sugary Drinks." The Nutrition Source.

3. Ver Ploeg, M., Mancino, L., Todd, J.E., Clay, D.M., & Scharadin, B. (2015). Where Do Americans Usually Shop for Food and How Do They Travel To Get There? EIB-138, USDA Economic Research Service.

4. Le Grand, Julian (2003). Motivation, Agency, and Public Policy: Of Knights and Knaves, Pawns and Queens. Oxford University Press.

5. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (2022). "SNAP Is Linked with Improved Health Outcomes and Lower Health Care Costs."

6. Chrisinger, Benjamin W. (2025). "Characteristics of state waivers to establish nutritional restrictions in the supplemental nutrition assistance program." Health Affairs Scholar, 3(12).

7. USDA (2025). Press release: "Secretary Rollins Signs Six New State Waivers to Make America Healthy Again."

8. The New York Times (2025). "In Approving Soda Ban for Food Stamps, U.S.D.A. Reverses Decades of Policy."

9. PBS NewsHour (2025). "Trump officials want to ban junk food from SNAP but past efforts show it's not easy." Skaggs.b (talk) 20:21, 16 April 2026 (UTC)