Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective--Higher Cost of Food in Some Areas May Affect Food Stamp Households' Ability To Make Healthy Food Choices

The cost of “enough food, ” estimated from the amount that low- and medium-income households in a geographic area report needing to spend to just meet their food needs, differs substantially across States and among metropolitan areas. In areas with high food costs, many food-stamp recipients are likely to have inadequate food resources to support healthy food choices.