The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced
on Monday that the average monthly Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP/CalFresh) benefit will increase by $36
per person from pre-pandemic levels, or $1.19 per day, beginning
on October 1, 2021.
The 27 percent increase in benefits resulted from a full review
and revision of the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) which serves as the
market basket of food items used to determine the cost of a
nutritious diet. While there have been inflationary increases for
SNAP over the years, the underlying TFP market basket reflecting
the changing landscape in food consumption had not been updated
in 45 years. USDA estimates
that total SNAP benefits in California for FY 2022 will increase
from $7.484 billion to $9.523 billion. Congress had directed the
USDA to review the TFP as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. The
increase does not need legislative approval.
The issue was highlighted during the recent National Association
of Counties’ (NACo) Annual Conference when Mono County Supervisor
John Peters introduced a resolution supporting a TFP update.
Backed by the County Welfare Directors Association and the
National Association of County Human Services Administrators, the
resolution was adopted unanimously by the NACo membership.
