Fall Virtual Member Meeting
- SCFPC
- Oct 8
- 9 min read
Updated: Oct 12
“Everybody Eats: the State of SNAP in South Carolina”
Introduction
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is the largest federal food program, both in terms of cost (~$100 billion per year) and number of Americans it reaches (~41 million people). Recent federal budget reconciliation is projected to cut $186 billion of SNAP benefits over the next 10 years. In addition, funding for SNAP-Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education) has been eliminated from the federal budget.
On Thursday, September 18, the SCFSN held its Fall virtual member meeting to discuss how these changes may affect the food system and the citizens of South Carolina. Our panel included:
Carrier Draper, University of South Carolina
Margaret Burn, Lowcountry Food Bank
Mary Beth Johnstone, Clemson University
Omme-Salma Rahemtulla, FoodShare South Carolina
Read on for a summary of the meeting, and view the full recording of the meeting here:
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We would love your input on the question we posed to our general membership:
How can SC step up to meet the challenge of cuts to SNAP and SNAP-Ed?
If you have a response to this question, or want to provide any other feedback to SCFSN, please fill out our feedback form:
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Meeting Summary
What is SNAP?
SNAP is short for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and was formally known as food stamps. SNAP is the largest federal food program, both in terms of cost and number of Americans it reaches. Over 41 million Americans received SNAP benefits in 2024, or 12.3 percent of the population, totaling about $100 billion of benefits per year. The federal government pays 100% of SNAP benefits, and administrative costs are shared equally between the federal government and state governments. SNAP benefits are designed to fill the gap between a family’s available food budget and the monthly cost of the Thrifty Food Plan, a low-cost but nutritionally sound short-term diet.
In SC, over 550,000 people receive SNAP benefits, or about 10% of the population. SNAP accounts for $1.7 billion in retail sales through 5,195 retailers across the state.
What is SNAP-Ed?
SNAP-Ed is short for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education. SNAP-Ed is a federally funded program that promotes healthy food choices and physical activity through nutrition education and community initiatives for people who receive or are eligible for SNAP benefits. SNAP-Ed funds state and local agencies, which then work with various community partners and organizations to meet the goals of the program. About a half billion, or $500 million has been allocated to SNAP-Ed each year for the past several years.
How are these programs affected by cuts in the federal budget in FY2026 and beyond?
Cuts to SNAP-Ed
Recent federal budget reconciliation eliminates funding for SNAP-Ed, beginning October 1, 2025. Some programs have obtained an extension to their funding period, but no new funding will be provided.
Cuts to SNAP
Federal funding for SNAP is projected to be cut by $186 billion over the next 10 years. It achieves this through broadened work requirements for SNAP recipients, meaning more people will be required to prove they work 80 hours per month to qualify for food benefits. The maximum age limit for work requirements was raised from 54 years old to 65 years old, and households with teenage children, ages 14-18 must now meet work requirements. The same law limits updates to the Thrifty Food Plan, which defines the value of groceries for SNAP recipients.
The effect on families in South Carolina is still unknown. A study by the Urban Institute estimated around 300,000 families in South Carolina could lose some or all of their SNAP benefits as a result, with the average family losing about $103 per month. A study by the Congressional Budget Office estimates about 4 million people will be affected nationwide. While the exact numbers are to be seen, a large number of people in South Carolina will be affected.
Lastly, the new law requires states to pay more of the administrative costs for SNAP, increasing the state government’s share from 50% to 75%. It also requires states to pay for food benefits for the first time, up to 15% of the total cost, if their payment error rate exceeds 6%.
Panel Discussion
Panelists
Carrier Draper, University of South Carolina
Margaret Burn, Lowcountry Food Bank
Mary Beth Johnstone, Clemson University Extension
Omme-Salma Rahemtulla, FoodShare South Carolina
Each panelist answered the questions:
How does your work relate to SNAP or SNAP-Ed?
What effect will funding cuts have on the people you serve or partner with?
What effect will funding cuts have on South Carolina’s food system?
Highlights from their responses are included below:
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Carrie Draper - University of South Carolina
How does your work relate to SNAP or SNAP-Ed?
Carrie shared a brief history of SNAP-Ed funding in South Carolina over the past 20 years. SC SNAP-Ed is administered by the Department of Social Services, and implemented by various government, academic, and community agencies, including the Clemson University Learning Institute, Department of Public Health, Lowcountry Food Bank, South Carolina State University 1890 Extension, and the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health.
SNAP-Ed in South Carolina has collaborated with local partners in ways that support community members being able to make healthy choices that fit their lives. With this goal in mind, SC SNAP-Ed provides (1) nutrition and physical activity focused education classes; (2) policy, systems, and environmental supports that align with the goals and interests of local partners and community members; (3) collaborations with local, regional, and state coalitions that work across multiple sectors; and (4) social marketing campaigns that provide healthy eating and active living messages and information strategies. Carrie’s team at University of South Carolina has conducted statewide evaluation of SNAP-Ed programs. Their team produced the following infographic, demonstrating the reach and impact of all SNAP-Ed activities.
SNAP-Ed also provided support for local food policy councils in South Carolina. The infographic below demonstrates the support provided to these community-based organizing efforts, which aim to make their local food systems more equitable and accessible:
What effect will funding cuts have on the people you serve or partner with?
This body of work that has been building over the past 20 years in South Carolina, unfortunately, will be eliminated with the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding in the new federal budget.
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Margaret Burn, Lowcountry Food Bank
How does your work relate to SNAP or SNAP-Ed?
Lowcountry Food Bank (LCFB) has been the SNAP-Ed implementing agency for the 10 coastal counties in South Carolina. Nutrition education is very important to LCFB, as the mission is to create equitable, dignified, and consistent access to food, and part of that is the knowledge of what food is best going to nourish your body, and how to use the food that is out there.
There is also another major relationship between SNAP and LCFB, in terms of feeding families. Last year, LCFB distributed over 42 million pounds of food. For every one meal provided by the food bank, nine meals are provided by SNAP benefits.
What effect will funding cuts have on the people you serve or partner with?
Cuts to SNAP benefits have a profound impact on the ability of South Carolina families to feed themselves. There are over 700,000 food insecure residents in South Carolina, and with 300,000 South Carolina residents projected to be affected by cuts to SNAP benefits by 2027, this will lead to more people in line at the food bank seeking assistance. One aspect of nutrition assistance at a food pantry compared to SNAP, is that people only have access to what that pantry has available. If a family has specific dietary needs or cultural preferences, then the food pantry may not meet their needs. This is where SNAP is very important, because it can help families meet their own specific needs at a grocery store.
What effect will funding cuts have on South Carolina’s food system?
Every dollar of SNAP benefits creates over $1.70 in economic impact, so when SNAP benefits are cut, it will hit our rural communities much harder than urban communities, This huge cut in SNAP funding will make our rural grocery stores vulnerable to closing, because they depend heavily on the SNAP benefits to stay open and to employ people. Even if you are a person with more financial resources, if you live in a rural community and your grocery store closes, you will now live in a food desert. So, people will need food assistance, not because they are in an economic situation, but because they don't have a way to get to a grocery store.
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Mary Beth Johnstone, Clemson University Extension
How does your work relate to SNAP or SNAP-Ed?
Mary Beth’s team at Clemson Extension’s Rural Health and Nutrition Program works on initiatives that increase access to nutritious foods and the consumption of those foods. This work is funded by two grants (1) the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)-funded Healthy Options Program, and (2) GusNIP, or the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program, through the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). They communicate nutrition information and help food service organizations adopt policies and work plans to increase the nutritional value of the foods they are offering, whether prepared foods or through a food pantry. The goal is to educate people towards food self-efficacy, or an individual’s confidence and ability to eat healthy and to choose the right foods for them.
Through their GusNIP grant, people using SNAP benefits can gain two dollars for every one dollar spent on fruits and vegetables. They partner with Piggly Wiggly stores along the I-95 corridor in areas where there is low healthy food access. Additionally, with their Prescription Produce Program, people who are SNAP eligible and suffer from chronic disease can receive vouchers for the purchase of fresh produce.
What effect will funding cuts have on the people you serve or partner with?
If an individual who is participating in one of the healthy food voucher programs loses SNAP benefits, they will also lose their ability to acquire fresh produce at a discounted rate. Not only will the individual have less money for food purchases, but they will have reduced access to healthy food options.
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Omme-Salma Rahemtulla, FoodShare South Carolina
How does your work relate to SNAP or SNAP-Ed?
FoodShare South Carolina purchases produce from distributors and local farmers and packs them to sell to families at a discounted rate. The retail value of a box is $30-$35 and is sold by FoodShare for $20. For a SNAP user, the cost of the box is $5, since FoodShare is one of the vendors that qualifies for Healthy Bucks, a produce inventive program offered by the SC Department of Social Services.
What effect will funding cuts have on the people you serve or partner with?
As SNAP benefits are reduced, fewer people will be able to stretch those SNAP funds through the purchase of produce boxes. Overall, there will likely be a reduction in access to healthy food for SNAP beneficiaries across the state.
FoodShare has also seen an increase in requests for nutrition education programming, since local partners have lost their SNAP-Ed funding for nutrition education.
What effect will funding cuts have on South Carolina’s food system?
Increased state government requirements for funding the administration of SNAP benefits will need to be paid by allocating more money from the state budget, which will need to be taken from elsewhere in the budget, still to be determined.
Reductions in SNAP, combined with other restrictions, such as a recent executive order from the Governor restricting the purchase of sugary drinks and food, will put more burden on vendors who use SNAP. This could result in the closure of rural grocery stores.
Other Questions and Discussion
Margaret Burn posed the idea of supporting local agriculture efforts in South Carolina as a way to help fill some of the void left by reductions to SNAP benefits.
Matt Kneece from Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA) shared that his team has had conversations with South Carolina legislators and the SC Department of Agriculture about promoting local agriculture efforts. The budget shortfalls due to increased SNAP administrative costs have put a pause on discussion about greater funding for local agriculture efforts. It is pertinent and timely for all of us to let the General Assembly know that these are critical programs and that support for local food systems is key.
Anjani Moro asked in the chat: Does the SC Food Systems Network have a general community organizing advocacy strategy?
Jesse Blom commented that SCFSN is currently in a strategic planning process, and one area of strategy is to build the organization’s capacity as a policy advocacy organization. At the December member meeting, we will be discussing some more about how to strategically approach policy advocacy.
Anjani Moro also asked in the chat: For the folks providing food access, how are you communicating SNAP cuts to your participants, and what has been the reaction?
Omme-Salma Rahemtulla shared that, because it is unclear what will happen as a result of cuts to SNAP funding, we don’t want to create panic. But they have been using social media and their network to amplify the voice of their participants to advocate for policies that benefit them.
Sue Berkowitz added in the chat “it is not unclear, we really need to get stories and do advocacy. We are asking folk to stop the cuts, and people can do this through FRAC.”
Matt Kneece, CFSA added in the chat: “Lots of bipartisan chatter at the federal level about restarting local food procurement programs (similar to LFPA) in some capacity, but all moot without a new farm bill at the moment.”
Sara Runkel added in the chat: “Collecting the stories of the impacts on rural grocery stores, corner stores, and farmers will be needed as well. Especially to emphasize the economic impact on businesses.”
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