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
This report highlights the role that school nutrition waivers have played in supporting school nutrition operations and access to school meals, the importance of extending the waivers through the 2022–2023 school year, and the path forward to ensure all children have access to the nutritious school meals they need to learn and thrive.
Read the report - Fact Sheet
Since the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the Colorado and Vermont
Read the Fact Sheet
Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) child care plans for school year 2021–2022 in April, a growing number
of states have been approved. So far, all of the approved plans have used the simple approach to
calculate the percentage decrease in lunch participation in the Child and Adult Care Food
Program compared to pre-pandemic levels to set a monthly benefit amount for children younger
than 6 participating in SNAP. - Interactive Data Tool
New Jersey has a strong existing network of anti-hunger programs and coalitions, each with their own experts, best practices, and lessons learned. A primary goal of a statewide effort to end hunger is to leverage the skills and expertise of the individuals involved in these initiatives and increase coordination among programs. This assets-based approach aims to validate past and
Explore the Asset Map!
ongoing work and create a broad base of community and institutional involvement. This publicly accessible catalog will allow communities and institutions to make connections across topic area and place. - Report
Leveraging the federal nutrition programs is a key strategy to help reduce and prevent food insecurity effectively and equitably. In this brief, a supplement to Hunger and Its Solutions in New Jersey: Landscape Analysis of Current Initiatives, Recommended Action, and Emerging Opportunities for Further Investment, FRAC provides further information on the landscape of the federal nutrition programs in New Jersey.
Read the brief
