How to Get Food Stamps From The Government

To get food stamps, you can now apply online in many (though not all) states.

If you are having difficulty making ends meet and feeding your family during the recession, it's important to know exactly how to get food stamps. This article will discuss the step by step process for submitting your application for food stamps.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. To get food stamps, your first step is to log on to the federal government's main website, which is entitled USA.gov. This is a portal website, meaning that it directs you to all sorts of government programs, including the food stamps program.

2. Your next step is to click on the link on the home page of the main website that reads "Benefits and Grants." You will then be directed to the "Benefits and Grants" web page, on which the various Benefits and Grants programs of the federal government are all arranged alphabetically.

3. Scroll down to the "F" section of the "Benefits and Grants" web page and click on the link entitled "Food Stamps and Other Nutrition Assistance Programs." Clicking on this link will bring you to the "Nutrition Assistance Programs" web page of the United States Department of Agriculture.

4. On this web page, you will find links to all of the federal government's various nutrition assistance programs. You will probably notice right away that the Food Stamp Program has been renamed the "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program." When you click on this link, you will be directed to the main website of SNAP. (The government officials who administer the program gave it a new title toward the end of 2008 because they wanted to stress the government's main goal, which is to help low income individuals and families gain regular access to healthy, nutritious food.)

5. Another link on this web page reads "Find Out Whether You Could Be Eligible For Benefits." This link takes you to the "SNAP Pre-Screening Eligibility Tool," which you can use to determine the chances of your food stamps application being approved before you even submit it.

6. To apply for food stamps, scroll down to the bottom of the main SNAP home page to the section called "Applicants and Recipients." Click on the link that says "Learn How To Apply For Benefits." This link directs you to another SNAP web page headed by the phrase "To Apply." (You will see that application forms for food stamps are submitted to individual states, not to the federal government.)

7. If you are seeking online food stamps applications, all the states which accept them are included as links on this page. If your state is on this list, click on the appropriate link, fill out the food stamps application form, double check it, and submit it online.

8. If your state is not included on the list of states that accept online applications, click instead on the link that instructs you to contact your "local SNAP office." This link brings you directly to a map of the United States, where you can click on your state to get the appropriate contact and application information.

Tips & Warnings

• Be aware that it may take some time to hear back about the status your food stamps application. After all, you are dealing with a big bureaucracy. If you want a status update on your food stamps application at any point, you can always follow up with a phone call to the state agency to which you submitted your application. If your application is ultimately approved, you will receive a card that functions much like an ATM card. You will discover that this card can be used to purchase food for your family at virtually all supermarkets.