Advocates ask Vermont Senate to adopt SNAP restaurant‑meals option, seek funding to expand food programs

Advocates testifying before the Vermont Senate Health & Welfare Committee on Feb. 6 urged lawmakers to adopt the federal restaurant‑meals option for SNAP (known in Vermont as 3SquaresVT) for selected populations and to fund multiple food‑security initiatives.

Ivy Enoch, SNAP policy and training lead for Hunger Free Vermont, asked senators to instruct the state to opt into the restaurant‑meals program and to appropriate $75,000 for restaurant start‑up costs and $100,000 for a Department for Children and Families (DCF) staff position to administer the program. The testimony also requested $500,000 in base and one‑time funding for the Vermont Food Bank to prepare for disasters and distribute food, and $2,000,000 in base funding for home‑delivered meals for older and disabled Vermonters through Meals on Wheels and area agencies on aging.

What the restaurant option would do

Enoch said the restaurant‑meals option allows a limited subset of SNAP participants—older adults, people with disabilities, and people experiencing homelessness—to use SNAP benefits to buy prepared meals at authorized restaurants. The state would encode eligible EBT cards to identify participants authorized for restaurant use, and DCF staff would work with restaurants on authorization and community outreach. Advocates cited examples from 11 other states that use the option and said a dedicated staff position would reduce administrative burden and support rollout.

Personal testimony and scale

Jerome Hazelwood, a Barrie resident staying in temporary motel housing, described storage and cooking barriers and said being able to buy a hot prepared meal through SNAP reduced physical strain and improved his ability to eat regularly. Enoch and other witnesses said 3SquaresVT reaches about 65,000 Vermonters (roughly 48,000 households) and that SNAP benefits deposit approximately $13 million of federal dollars into the Vermont economy each month. They also noted SNAP currently reaches an estimated 40 percent of eligible Vermonters and that other programs are needed to reach those left out by eligibility limits.

Funding requests and rationale

Witnesses linked the funding requests to operational needs: startup costs for restaurants and a state DCF staff position to administer the restaurant‑meals option; base funds for the Vermont Food Bank to bolster disaster response and supply to community‑based food shelves; and ongoing general funds to expand home‑delivered meals for older and disabled residents. Advocates said these investments would expand food access for people who cannot shop or prepare meals and strengthen local food systems including farmers markets and SNAP incentive programs run by NOFA Vermont.

Committee response and next steps

Senators asked technical questions about eligibility (federal rules limit restaurant usage to specific populations) and about whether a DCF staffer is required; witnesses said the staffer is not a federal requirement but has proved essential in other states to run the program effectively. No committee action or vote occurred during the testimony; senators thanked the witnesses and indicated the proposals would be reviewed as the committee considers fiscal year 2026 budget items.