Questions about Our Food for All Program and USDA’s “SNAP Equal Treatment Rule”
With community organizations and businesses rallying around support for the families and kids impacted by the shutdown of SNAP benefits this month, the USDA publicly reminded SNAP-EBT eligible retailers, which includes Weaver Street Market stores, that retailers must comply with the “SNAP Equal Treatment Rule” unless they have a SNAP Equal Treatment Waiver. An equal treatment waiver is required to treat SNAP recipients differently than other customers, regardless of whether it is adverse treatment or favorable treatment.
The USDA informed us that our Food for All discount did not require a SNAP Equal Treatment Waiver.
Eligibility for our Food for All program and benefits requires an active EBT card, not participation in a specific government assistance program. EBT cards are used for distributing funds to recipients of several government assistance programs, including SNAP, TANF, WIC, and SUN Bucks.
When we applied for a SNAP Equal Treatment Waiver to offer our Food for All discount, the USDA informed us that we did not need a waiver since our we are not targeting SNAP, but are “incentivizing SNAP, TANF, and other low income households.” (If the discount was available only to SNAP recipients, we would need the waiver.) They also indicated that a second reason we did not need a waiver is that participants are not required to use their EBT dollars to receive the discount.
- YOU MUST OFFER ELIGIBLE FOODS AT THE SAME PRICES AND ON THE SAME TERMS AND CONDITIONS TO SNAP-EBT CUSTOMERS AS OTHER CUSTOMERS, EXCEPT THAT SALES TAX CANNOT BE CHARGED ON SNAP PURCHASES.
- YOU CANNOT TREAT SNAP-EBT CUSTOMERS DIFFERENTLY THAN ANY OTHER CUSTOMER.
- OFFERING DISCOUNTS OR SERVICES ONLY TO SNAP PAYING CUSTOMERS IS A SNAP VIOLATION UNLESS YOU HAVE A SNAP EQUAL TREATMENT WAIVER.