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Advocates ask committee to expand 3 Squares Vermont options, fund farmers-market incentives and Meals on Wheels
Summary
Hunger Free Vermont and partners asked the Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee to let select SNAP participants use benefits at restaurants, and to fund NOFA Vermont incentive programs and additional Meals on Wheels base funding.
Hunger Free Vermont and partner organizations urged the Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee to expand how the state’s SNAP program (branded 3 Squares Vermont) can be used and to increase state funding for several nutrition programs.
Ivy Enoch, SNAP policy and training lead at Hunger Free Vermont, asked lawmakers to pass legislation authorizing Vermont to opt into the SNAP Restaurant Meals Program and to appropriate $75,000 for restaurant startup costs and $100,000 for a Department for Children and Families staff position to administer the program. “Please pass legislation to instruct the state to opt into the SNAP Restaurant Meals Program and appropriate $75,000 to cover restaurant startup costs and $100,000 for a staff position within DCF to administer the program,” Enoch said.
Enoch also requested $500,000 in base funding to sustain two incentive programs run by NOFA Vermont — named in testimony as CropPASH and FarmShare — and support for the Vermont Food Bank’s $5,000,000 FY26 request. Finally, she asked for $2,000,000 in base general funding for home-delivered meals for older and disabled Vermonters, run by the Vermont Area Agencies on Aging (Meals on Wheels programs).
Enoch explained that the Restaurant Meals option is a federally authorized state option intended for select SNAP participants — older adults, people with disabilities and people experiencing homelessness — who face barriers to buying, storing or preparing food. When asked by a committee member identified as Representative Caitlin whether restaurant meals would be more expensive, Enoch replied that federal program rules require restaurants participating in the Restaurant Meals Program to offer a concession menu that highlights affordable meal options for SNAP participants.
No bill language was presented during the testimony and the committee took no formal action at the meeting. Advocates asked lawmakers to consider the measures as part of a broader strategy to strengthen food security in Vermont by expanding benefit options, supporting farmer-incentive programs and increasing home-delivered meal capacity.
