The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers 16 domestic food and nutrition assistance programs that impact the lives of millions of people and account for approximately two-thirds of USDA’s annual budget. In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, USDA launched additional temporary programs and implemented numerous policy changes that expand the scope and coverage of existing programs. Together, these programs account for $166.4 billion in spending on food and nutrition assistance programs in fiscal year 2023 (October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023). This report uses preliminary data from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to examine program trends and policy changes in USDA’s largest domestic food and nutrition assistance programs through FY2023. It also provides summaries of two 2023 USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) reports. One examines the prevalence of household food insecurity in the U.S. in 2022, and the other documents the percentage of households with school-age children reporting difficulty paying the costs after a pandemic waiver that allowed schools to offer free school meals expires in 2022.
How to cite:
Jones, J. W., and Toosi, S. (2024). Food and Nutrition Assistance Status: 2023 Annual Report (Report No. EIB-274). United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. https://doi.org/10.32747/2024.8453401.ers
keyword: Food and Nutrition Assistance Program, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), Summer School Lunch Program (SFSP), Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT), Child Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program (Summer EBT), Emergency Allocation, Food Security, Coronavirus, COVID-19 Pandemic, Economic Conditions
In this publication…
