How to Use SNAP

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) puts your monthly benefit on the Iowa Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card, a plastic card that looks and works like a debit card. Once you are approved for SNAP benefits, it can take up to seven days for the card to be mailed to the address on your application. Every month your EBT card will be reloaded with your SNAP benefit amount.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services offers videos explaining how to use the ConnectEBT Web Portal and ConnectEBT Mobile App to access your EBT account, and tips for keeping your SNAP benefits safe.

You can use your Iowa EBT Card to buy food:

• At grocery stores. Before you start shopping, make sure the store has an Iowa Quest logo on display. If you don't see the Quest logo, ask the Customer Service desk if the store accepts EBT cards.
• At farmers markets and farm stands. Look for signs with "We accept" and a photo of an EBT card, then buy eligible items using your EBT card and PIN the same way you do in local stores.
• Online, from retailers like Aldi, Amazon, and Walmart. Learn which stores in Iowa accept EBT cards online.

Iowa does not charge sales tax on food meant to be eaten by humans, but does charge sales tax on non-food items and some food-related items (like sodas). You can only use your Iowa SNAP benefits to buy non-taxable food. The Iowa Department of Revenue has detailed information about non-taxable and taxable food items.

This means your SNAP EBT card can be used to buy:

• Foods for the household to eat, such as:
  • Breads and cereals
  • Fruits and vegetables
  • Meats, fish, and poultry
  • Dairy products, and
• Seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.

SNAP benefits cannot be used to buy:

• Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco
• Sodas, including those with 50% or less fruit or vegetable juice

• Chewing gum, candy or candy-coated items

• Any nonfood items, such as:
  • Pet foods
  • Soaps
  • Paper products
  • Household supplies
• Vitamins, minerals and medicines
• Food to be eaten in the store or hot foods, or
• Food in a restaurant.

Get more details about using the Iowa EBT Card.

Emergency Food Program

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is a federal program to give free food to people with low income, through soup kitchens or food banks. This means you may be able to get an extra food box, on top of your SNAP benefits. To get food from this program, your total income must be under the income limits, based on the size of your household.

Get more info:

• The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a TEFAP website.

• The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services explains its Emergency Food Program with links to help you find a food bank in your area. You can also go to your local food pantry.