Could you survive on just $4 per day without going hungry? Experience what life can be like for millions of low-income Americans who receive SNAP benefits.
Take FRAC’s SNAP Challenge!
Most participants take the Challenge for one week and discover they have to make difficult food shopping choices, and often realize how difficult it is to afford nutritious foods, and stay healthy. While living on a SNAP budget for just a week cannot come close to the challenges encountered by low-income families week after week and month after month, it does provide those who take the Challenge with a new perspective and greater understanding.
For the past 10 years, FRAC has supported and fostered SNAP Challenges to help educate the public and opinion leaders about the important role SNAP plays in mitigating hunger and poverty — and the need to strengthen the program so beneficiaries can afford enough food for their health and well-being.
The Challenge first captured public attention in 2006 when FRAC allies in Philadelphia hosted one, followed by groups in Wichita, Kansas.
The Challenge took the national stage in 2007 when four Members of Congress — Representatives James McGovern (D-Mass.), Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), and Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) — pledged to live for one week on an average SNAP budget and blogged about their experiences.
Since then, hundreds — if not thousands — of people have taken the Challenge, including Members of Congress, governors, state legislators, mayors, celebrities, religious and community leaders, reporters, and average citizens.
Now you can too…
SNAP Challenge Toolkit
Includes Challenge guidelines, registration hints, host event ideas, media planning information, and more.
Recent Publications & Data
See More Resources- Report
Efforts by health care providers to address food insecurity continue to grow. FRAC’s new research brief underscores the importance of connecting patients to SNAP, WIC, and other federal nutrition programs as the foundational intervention to address food insecurity in health care settings;
Read the research brief
provides key steps that health care providers can take to connect patients to federal nutrition programs; and synthesizes research on food insecurity interventions in health care settings that featured connecting patients to SNAP and WIC. Learn more in Connecting Patients to SNAP and WIC in Health Care Settings. - Advocacy Tool
The federal nutrition programs are a critical support for tens of millions of households — including individuals of all ages — by helping them put food on the table during times of need. Investing in hunger prevention and relief makes good fiscal sense. Hunger increases health care costs, lowers worker productivity, harms children’s development, and diminishes students’ educational attainment. These negative impacts can be minimized with robust funding and support for the federal nutrition programs. Use this Fiscal Year 2025 Budget and Appropriations leave behind in your advocacy.
Read the leave behind - Advocacy Tool
School meals play an important role in reducing childhood hunger, supporting good nutrition, and ensuring that students are hunger-free and ready to get the most out of their school day. Use this 2024 Healthy School Meals for All leave behind in your advocacy.
Read the leave behind - Advocacy Tool
An expanded and inclusive CTC is a transformational policy for addressing hunger among families with children.3 With the tax credit improvements in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, Congress has a unique opportunity to address hunger among households with children and improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of millions in our nation. Use this 2024 Leave Behind in your advocacy.
Read the leave behind
