What Can You Buy With Food Stamps in Texas?
Written by
Josephine Nesbit
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In Texas, SNAP is administered by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and can be used to purchase most foods at grocery stores and participating retailers. Benefits are deposited monthly onto Texas Lone Star Cards, the state’s version of the EBT card.
SNAP eligibility in Texas is based on household income and resources. For a family of four, the maximum monthly income allowed is $3,644 while the maximum monthly SNAP amount is $835. Most people between the ages of 16 and 59 must also follow work rules, which state that you must be looking for a job or be in an approved work program. If you have a job, you cannot quit without a good reason.
If you live in a household where all members are 60 or older or people with disabilities, you can apply for Texas Simplified Application Project (TSAP). This is a simplified SNAP application and it provides three years of benefits instead of six months.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service, SNAP benefits can be used to purchase:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Meat, poultry and fish
- Seafood (Lobster and Shellfish)
- Dairy products
- Breads and cereals
- Birthday Cakes
- Gift Baskets (as long as they are 50% edible)
- Snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages including energy drinks
- Seeds and plants, which produce food for the household to eat
SNAP benefits cannot be used to purchase:
- Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco
- Vitamins, medicines and supplements
- Live animals (except shellfish, fish removed from water and animals slaughtered prior to pick-up from the store)
- Foods that are hot at the point of sale
- Any nonfood items
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