USDA Looking At On-Line SNAP Purchases

Using SNAP benefits for on-line purchases is not a new idea.  According to SNAP associate administrator, Jessica Shaheen, the 2014 Farm Bill mandated that USDA do a pilot to test the feasibility and overall implications.  She said some top priorities have been security, privacy, and ease of use.

“We're working with our various stake holders including our partner states, the retailers, the vendors, the EBT vendors, and the processors to design and implement the pilot in a way that gets us that kind of information so that we can meet that goal of going nationwide.”

The pilot is initially available in parts of New York state, but will be expanded to other states during the two year test period.

“We want to do that in a methodical way a way that's thoughtful.  We'll make sure that we're doing things right, but we also want to get it nation-wide in a reasonable period of time.”

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