Max Gage’s father needed emergency surgery. He had been ill and was unable to work.
It was then that his family turned to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which has helped Max’s mother, Catherine Gage, continue to support their family of eight.
“It’s been huge to actually see firsthand what food does to us and our health, to see how it can turn your life around.” – Catherine Gage
With several food allergies throughout the family, Catherine wanted to make sure they had access to food that would enable them to live a healthy life. She shares how SNAP makes that possible and how programs like Double Up Food Bucks help their SNAP benefits go even further in accessing fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms.
This story was recorded and produced by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Originally posted on September 19, 2018.
Michigan Fast Facts
18%
In Michigan, 18% of children are food insecure.
15.1%
In Michigan, 15.1% of the overall population is food insecure.
SNAP Stories
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is the nation’s largest nutrition assistance program, helping feed more than 40 million Americans each month. Learn more about the critical support SNAP provides to families and individuals across the country.
New Research
SNAP benefits would decrease substantially under the House Farm Bill for some households receiving energy assistance. A new microsimulation conducted by Mathematica Policy Research finds that between 800,000 and 1.1 million households receiving SNAP benefits in 2017 would experience a $50 to $75 cut in their monthly benefit under certain provisions of the Bill.
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SNAP Participation Rate by State
The percentage of residents participating in SNAP ranges from 6% in Wyoming to 23% in New Mexico.
Priority Policy: SNAP
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is the nation’s largest nutrition assistance program, helping feed more than 40 million Americans each month.
Child Food Insecurity Rates by State
Child food insecurity rates range from 9.4% in North Dakota to 26.3% in Mississippi.
Stories and Expert Perspectives
Hear from experts about the impact of policies and programs in their communities, read interviews with researchers about data releases, and learn how some communities are taking action to help more children grow up healthy, including from places that have measured a decline in childhood obesity rates.