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Which grocery stores accept food stamps?
Many stores around the US accept food banks or SNAP benefits, crucial for those who receive the support that they can use them.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has existed in some form since 1933. 1 in 7 Americans are enrolled in the program, making it the largest food help program in the country.
SNAP benefits, as well as the distribution of food stamps, often uses Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. These store the money needed to pay for food, but they cannot be used everywhere. The Department of Agriculture has a set of requirements that precludes many businesses from accepting EBT cards.
However, most supermarkets are likely to be on the Department’s list.
Here is a list of some of the biggest stores that accept food tokens:
- Albertsons
- Aldi
- BJ's Wholesale Club
- Costco
- City Market
- Food Lion
- Harris Teeter
- Kroger
- Market Basket
- Piggly Wiggly
- Publix
- Safeway
- Schwan's Fine Food
- Sprouts
- Save A Lot
- Target
- Stop & Shop
- Trader Joe's
- Walmart
SNAP benefits changed in 2022
Through the SNAP Program, monthly food stamps are designed to award to the most needy sector of the population in order to help them put food on their tables. Coupon amounts are placed on an EBT card, which can be used at the select retailers and grocery stores that are in the list above. Purchases can also be made online, but they must be food items.
The pandemic had put SNAP benefits under the spotlight of the nation. Food insecurity had risen and many people were pushed into poverty, a fact not helped by the termination of the expanded Child Tax Credit at the turn of the year.
Who will first receive payments of up to $4,223 in July 2023?
Payments will begin to be given out to people as of 1 July in the states that have approved them, although the exact date depends on the initial of the last name of the beneficiaries and their month of birth.
Those who were born in January and have the initials A - K in their last names will receive the money from 1 July, and those whose initials go from L - Z will receive it on 2 July. Alaska, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Vermont will distribute all payments on July 1, regardless of the month of birth or initial of the last name of the beneficiaries.