LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky will join 15 other states in a pilot program that will allow food stamp recipients to buy groceries online through Amazon and Walmart.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue approved requests by Texas, Missouri and Kentucky to be allowed to join the program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a news release.
Perdue’s action will allow the states to speed up implementation of online purchasing for people who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the food stamp program. The target start date for the online purchasing has not yet been announced.
In Kentucky, more than 225,000 households participate in SNAP, and the state receives nearly $750 million in annual federal funding, according to the USDA.
The pilot program is operational in Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Oregon and Washington. The agency has said previously that Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, North Carolina and Washington, D.C., would also be joining. Including the three latest states, more than half of households receiving SNAP would have access to online purchasing.
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