Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also widely known as food stamps, is an anti-hunger program reaching populations of need across the state. SNAP is extremely responsive to need with very poor households receiving more supplemental assistance than households closer to the poverty line. Households receive benefits on EBT Cards which can only be used at 3,500 authorized retail locations throughout the state.
SNAP is important to Oklahoma because 15.5% of households are food insecure and 21.8% of children live below the poverty line. SNAP provides necessary food so that families can focus on employment and education without wondering from where their next meal will come.
SNAP also helps ge
nerate economic growth for our state. For every $1 snap benefits spent, $1.70 is generated in economic growth. SNAP benefits pumped about $886 million into Oklahoma’s economy in 2016. That money translates into jobs at our local grocery stores, revenue for local farmers, or the local corner market keeping its lights on. To learn about the importance of SNAP, read the full Center for Budget and Policy Priorities brief.