Expenditures for food assistance continue to increase

Federal expenditures for USDA's food and nutrition assistance programs totaled $94.8 billion in fiscal 2010, or 20 percent more than the previous fiscal year. Fiscal 2010 marked the 10th consecutive year in which food and nutrition assistance expenditures exceeded the previous historical record. Since fiscal 2004, expenditures for food and nutrition assistance have more than doubled. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-formerly the Food Stamp Program-is the foundation of USDA's food and nutrition assistance programs, accounting for 72 percent of all Federal food and nutrition assistance spending in fiscal 2010.The five largest food and nutrition assistance programs in fiscal 2010-SNAP, the National School Lunch Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the School Breakfast Program-accounted for 96 percent of USDA's expenditures for food and nutrition assistance. Each of these five major programs expanded, to varying degrees, during fiscal 2010. This chart was originally published in The Food Assistance Landscape, FY 2010 Annual Report, EIB-6-8, March 2011.

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