Some Louisiana SNAP Benefit Users to Get ‘Cash Bonus’

(KMDL-FM) School bells are ringing or will be ringing across places like Lafayette, Crowley, Breaux Bridge, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shreveport, and Alexandria over the coming days. Education professionals will tell you the key to a good school year often starts with a healthy breakfast. And for Louisiana families who take advantage of SNAP benefits, adding the "healthy" to a healthy breakfast could put money in their pockets.

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budgets, allowing them to afford the nutritious food essential to health and well-being. All of which figures into a successful school year for Louisiana kids.

READ MORE: Louisiana to Ban Junk Food Purchases Using SNAP Benefits

READ MORE: Major Changes Announced for Louisiana SNAP Users

As you see from the stories above, the SNAP program is not without its critics. I don't think there is anyone who wants to see any Louisiana resident or child go hungry. But I think it's safe to say that hard-working people who pinch pennies are not very fond of seeing SNAP users use that benefit to pay for junk food.

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How Do Louisiana SNAP Users Get a "Cash Bonus"?

Avoiding junk food and adding healthier choices is part of a state program that we have learned is now expanding. The program provides "bonus money" loaded onto the EBT Card when the purchaser selects fresh produce at a Walmart store.

The "SNAP Bonus" is available for residents of eleven Louisiana Parishes. Those parishes now include Calcasieu, Jackson, Lafayette, Rapides, and Terrebonne. The program has already been operational in Ascension, LaSalle, Sabine, Tangipahoa, Webster, and West Carroll and has been well-received in those parishes since it was implemented in April.

How Do Louisiana Residents Sign Up For Bonus SNAP Benefits?

The good news for SNAP users is that there is no additional sign-up required. The only caveat is that you shop for your fresh produce at Walmart in order to receive the .30 cent bonus on your card. The extra "money" is automatically loaded onto the EBT card at the time of purchase. The amount of "bonus money" is capped at $25 per month. 

In the first five months of the program in Ascension, LaSalle, Sabine, Tangipahoa, Webster, and West Carroll parishes, state officials say more than $280,000 in incentives have been earned. They do expect the addition of six more parishes, Calcasieu, Jackson, Lafayette, Rapides, and Terrebonne, will increase that number by several hundred thousand dollars.