# Food Stamp Program *Former and colloquial name of the U.S. federal food-purchasing assistance program now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).* The **Food Stamp Program** is the earlier name, still in colloquial use, of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP is a United States federal program that helps persons with low or no income buy food.[^1] At the federal level the [[Department of Agriculture]] (USDA) runs it through its Food and Nutrition Administration. The states' own departments hand out the benefits.[^1] The permanent program began with a legislative proposal from [[Secretary of Agriculture]] [[Orville Freeman]], submitted on April 17, 1963. It was enacted as the Food Stamp Act of 1964, Public Law 88-525, signed August 31, 1964.[^2][^3] Two more child-nutrition enactments followed during Freeman's tenure at USDA: - the [[Child Nutrition Act of 1966]];[^4] - [[Public Law 90-302]] of 1968.[^5] The 1968 law created a single section of the [[National School Lunch Act]]. Later amendments divided that section into what are now the [[Summer Food Service Program]] and the [[Child and Adult Care Food Program]].[^5][^6][^7][^8] ## Who Orville L. Freeman served as Secretary of Agriculture from January 21, 1961 to January 20, 1969. That is the Kennedy Library's listing of administration officials.[^9] The Miller Center's essays on his service under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson give the years of the tenure only. They do not mention the nutrition programs.[^10][^11] President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Child Nutrition Act on October 11, 1966. His remarks opened with "Secretary Freeman, Senator Ellender, Members of the Congress:". The American Presidency Project's editorial note says that "he referred to Secretary of Agriculture Orville L. Freeman."[^12][^13] Freeman is not named in the published remarks upon signing the Food Stamp Act of 1964.[^3] USDA's administering agency was formerly the [[Food and Nutrition Service]]. Its former web paths now redirect to the Food and Nutrition Administration.[^2] Each state runs the program separately and distributes benefits through its own departments.[^1] Wikipedia credits the idea of the first, Depression-era food stamp program to several people. Among them are Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace and Milo Perkins, the program's first administrator.[^1] ## What The Food Stamp Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-525, 78 Stat. 703) is the enactment that put the program on a permanent footing.[^2][^3] **Eligibility.** The program is means-tested. It applies income and resource tests and has separate rules for immigrants, elderly persons and persons with disabilities.[^1] A household generally qualifies if its gross monthly income is at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level for its size and its net monthly income is at or below 100 percent.[^1] **Benefit amount.** The benefit is 30 percent of the household's net monthly income subtracted from a maximum allotment. USDA sets that maximum from its thrifty food plan, the least costly plan that still meets a healthy diet.[^1] **Form of payment.** For most of the program's history, benefits came as paper coupons in $1, $5 and $10 denominations. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing printed them. In the late 1990s some states began replacing the coupons with electronic benefit transfer (EBT) debit cards supplied by private contractors.[^1] ## When - **May 16, 1939 – spring 1943:** A first food stamp program, run by USDA, operated in this period.[^1] - **February 2, 1961:** Freeman announced food stamp pilot programs.[^2] - **April 17, 1963:** USDA's history page states that "Secretary Orville Freeman had submitted proposed legislation to establish a permanent FSP on April 17, 1963".[^2] - **August 31, 1964:** The Food Stamp Act of 1964 was signed as Public Law 88-525.[^2][^3] - **October 11, 1966:** The Child Nutrition Act of 1966, Public Law 89-642, 80 Stat. 885, was approved.[^4][^14] - Its §4 established "a pilot program to assist States through grants-in-aid and other means, to initiate, maintain, or expand nonprofit breakfast programs in schools". This was the origin of the [[School Breakfast Program]].[^4][^14] - Its §3 reauthorized the Special Milk Program. That program originated in §204(b) of the Agricultural Act of 1954, P.L. 83-690.[^4] - The Act also extended school lunch eligibility to preschool children.[^4][^12] - **May 8, 1968:** Public Law 90-302, 82 Stat. 117, added a new §13 to the National School Lunch Act.[^5] - The section was headed "SPECIAL FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN", the [[Special Food Service Program for Children]]. - It funded meals through "private, nonprofit institutions or public institutions, such as child day-care centers, settlement houses, or recreation centers."[^5] - **October 7, 1975:** Public Law 94-105, 89 Stat. 511, divided §13.[^6] - §13 became the Summer Food Service Program for Children. - A new §17 established the Child Care Food Program. - **November 10, 1989:** Public Law 101-147, §105(a), amended the heading of §17 to read "CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM".[^7] - **2011:** The Institute of Medicine wrote that "In 1968, CACFP began as a small 3-year pilot program called the Special Food Service Program for Children".[^8] - **June 2004:** EBT was in use in every state from this month.[^1] - **As of September 2, 2026:** USDA's own legislative-history pages for the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Service Program returned an archived-content notice. They are cited here only as dead links.[^15][^16] ## How much **1968 authorization.** Public Law 90-302 authorized "$32,000,000 for each of the three fiscal years ending June 30, 1969, June 30, 1970, and June 30, 1971," for the new §13 program.[^5] **Current program.** Wikipedia gives the following figures, as of its revision retrieved October 27, 2026; the record carries no primary USDA source for them:[^1] - In fiscal year 2025, SNAP benefits came to about $95.8 billion, within roughly $102.6 billion in total program costs. - In 2024, the maximum monthly allotment for a family of four with no net income was $973. ## How many All counts in this section are Wikipedia's, stated as of each figure's own year:[^1] - **Monthly participation:** - fiscal year 2025: an average of about 42.4 million people per month; - FY 2016: 44.2 million; - 2015: 45.8 million; - 2013 (peak): 47.6 million. - **2017 reach:** about 9.2 percent of American households received benefits at some point, and about 16.7 percent of all children lived in households receiving them. ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record carries Freeman's April 17, 1963 submission as item AI-Hennepin-009, duplicated as AI-009: [[At issue 009 - Orville Freeman submitted the legislation establishing a permanent]].[^2] - **Sources and anchor.** The item names its sources as USDA and the American Presidency Project. It anchors to a March 2025 White House presidential action.[^17] - **What the record holds of the anchor.** The record holds that action's address but not its text. It does not establish what the action says about the Food Stamp Program.[^17] - **The later county attorney's office.** The item also refers to a [[county attorney]]'s office decades later. No document in the record names that office or its holder. The record does not establish any connection between that office and the 1963 legislation.[^2][^17] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program* (rev. 1380541807, retrieved 2026-10-27) — program description, eligibility and benefit rules, coupon and EBT history, 1939–1943 program, participation and cost figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplemental_Nutrition_Assistance_Program [^2]: USDA Food and Nutrition Administration, *A Short History of SNAP* (undated) — pilot programs announced February 2, 1961; Freeman's April 17, 1963 submission; Food Stamp Act of 1964, P.L. 88-525, 78 Stat. 703, signed August 31, 1964; former fns.usda.gov path redirects here. https://www.fna.usda.gov/snap/history [^3]: American Presidency Project, *Remarks Upon Signing the Food Stamp Act* (August 31, 1964) — signing of P.L. 88-525; Freeman not named in the remarks. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-upon-signing-the-food-stamp-act [^4]: United States Statutes at Large, *Child Nutrition Act of 1966*, Public Law 89-642, 80 Stat. 885 (October 11, 1966) — §4 breakfast pilot; §3 Special Milk Program reauthorization; preschool eligibility. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-80/pdf/STATUTE-80-Pg885.pdf [^5]: United States Statutes at Large, *An Act to amend the National School Lunch Act to strengthen and expand food service programs for children*, Public Law 90-302, 82 Stat. 117 (May 8, 1968) — new NSLA §13, its heading, institutions served, and $32,000,000 annual authorization. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-82/pdf/STATUTE-82-Pg117.pdf [^6]: United States Statutes at Large, Public Law 94-105, 89 Stat. 511 (October 7, 1975) — splitting NSLA §13 into the Summer Food Service Program for Children and creating §17 Child Care Food Program. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-89/pdf/STATUTE-89-Pg511.pdf [^7]: United States Statutes at Large, *Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 1989*, Public Law 101-147 (November 10, 1989) — §105(a) retitling NSLA §17 "CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM." https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-103/pdf/STATUTE-103-Pg877.pdf [^8]: Institute of Medicine, *Child and Adult Care Food Program: Aligning Dietary Guidance for All* (2011), ch. 2 — CACFP began in 1968 as the Special Food Service Program for Children. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209814/ [^9]: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (NARA), *Officials of the Kennedy Administration* — Freeman's dates as Secretary of Agriculture, January 21, 1961 – January 20, 1969. https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/life-of-john-f-kennedy/fast-facts-john-f-kennedy/officials-of-the-kennedy-administration [^10]: Miller Center, *Orville Freeman (1961) — Secretary of Agriculture* (Kennedy administration) — years of service. https://millercenter.org/president/kennedy/essays/freeman-1961-orville-secretary-of-agriculture [^11]: Miller Center, *Orville Freeman (1963) — Secretary of Agriculture* (Johnson administration) — years of service. https://millercenter.org/president/lbjohnson/essays/freeman-1963-secretary-of-agriculture [^12]: Lyndon B. Johnson, *Remarks at the Signing of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966* (October 11, 1966), American Presidency Project — opening address to Secretary Freeman; editorial note identifying him. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-signing-the-child-nutrition-act-1966 [^13]: LBJ Presidential Library, *Remarks at the Signing of the Child Nutrition Act* (October 11, 1966) — library copy of the remarks. https://www.lbjlibrary.org/object/text/remarks-signing-child-nutrition-act-10-11-1966 [^14]: Social Security Administration, *Compilation of Social Security Laws: Child Nutrition Act of 1966* (P.L. 89-642, as amended) — codified text including the breakfast program section. https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/comp2/F089-642.html [^15]: USDA, *CACFP Legislative History* — dead link; returns an archived-content notice. https://www.fns.usda.gov/cacfp/legislative-history [^16]: USDA, *SFSP Program History* — dead link; returns an archived-content notice. https://www.fns.usda.gov/sfsp/program-history [^17]: The White House, *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse* (presidential action, March 2025) — anchor cited by at-issue item AI-Hennepin-009; text not carried in the record. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/