Importantly, the committee did not focus its efforts on outlining how SNAP participation might be encouraged, but instead on issues related to how SNAP participants' attributes and actions may affect the adequacy of the benefits that they receive. In turn, they were able to identify factors that theoretically might affect whether SNAP goals are met to ultimately determine the feasibility of defining allotment adequacy. From this systematic review of the literature, committee members developed a framework illustrating the process by which households make food choices and how SNAP characteristics affect this process. Specifically, they identified and summarized publications related to how SNAP adequacy is influenced and might be codified. Library of the National Academies to conduct a comprehensive review of the current evidence of peer-reviewed and selected nonpeer-reviewed publications. This committee was assembled twice for all-hands meetings held in 2012 and worked with experienced librarians at the George E. Julie Caswell, professor of resource economics and chair of the Department of Resource Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. To meet its objectives, the IOM assembled a committee of experts chaired by Dr.
The outcome of this study was published in 2013 in the IOM and NRC's joint report entitled Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Examining the Evidence to Define Benefit Adequacy, and a summary is provided here. In response to this ongoing debate and as part of the government's continuing assessment of its food assistance programs, the USDA asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to conduct a study “to examine the feasibility of defining the adequacy of SNAP allotments.” In other words, the USDA asked the IOM to determine whether SNAP adequacy could be objectively defined, and if so, what factors (including new data) would need to be considered.
For instance, some argue that the time needed to purchase and prepare foods from basic ingredients as described in the “Thrifty Food Plan” (TFP) on which SNAP allotments are based should be considered when assessing the adequacy of SNAP. One factor that remains an area of active debate relates to how the adequacy of the SNAP allotment of foods and beverages should be evaluated. As such, debate continues as to what the future holds for SNAP and those it serves. Because of lack of closure and consensus, however, the Farm Bill was ultimately extended until September 2013 as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act. With an annual price tag exceeding $75 billion, SNAP is re-evaluated, revamped, and reauthorized by Congress every 5 y as part of the Farm Bill, the current version of which expired in September 2012. Currently serving >46 million Americans (∼1 in 7) living in 21.1 million households each month, the overarching goal of the program is to improve access to healthy foods for low-income individuals and households. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, previously the Food Stamp Program), administered by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, is our nation's primary food security safety net.