Ok I looked it up.....I do not totally disagree with the use of foodstamps in restaurants under these programs. These programs are the only ones that allow food stamps to be used in a restaurant setting and it is not the regular food stamps. It is a special card that was made only for use with this program. And it is happening in only a few states. In these cases it usually replaces or fills in gaps in programs like Meals-on-wheels. SNAP benefits cannot be used to purchase food in restaurants unless there is a special State-run restaurant program, and only a few States operate these special programs. These special restaurant programs serve elderly, homeless or disabled people only, allowing them to purchase food using their SNAP/EBT benefits. Participating restaurants must offer meals only to these three groups of program recipients, and must offer meals at concessional prices. SNAP recipients cannot use regular EBT cards in the restaurants authorized in the State-run programs; recipients are issued a special EBT card to use. At this time, Arizona and California (select counties) are the only states that participates in this initiative, with Rhode Island and Florida (Alachua county) operating limited pilot projects (and they are not accepting new applications). As previously mentioned, this is a State-run program; USDA works with States to authorize restaurants participating in these special programs where they exist. Whether or not States offer these special programs is totally up to individual States, not USDA. Restaurants cannot participate in SNAP as retail firms that accept SNAP benefits. A firm is considered to be a restaurant if more than 50 percent of its total food sales are in eat-in or carry-out ready-to-eat foods. To be eligible as a retail firm, a store must sell food for home preparation and consumption, and meet specific eligibility criteria based on staple food sales.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 18:49:43 +0000
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