Taxpayers Footed the Bill for Nearly $500M in Food Stamps at California Fast Food Joints
Over a two-year period, recipients of food assistance programs (SNAP) in teh U.S.spent over half a billion dollars on fast food, with the majority-about $475 million-spent in California. This has prompted political discussion,notably by Representative Brandon Gill of Texas,who proposed ending the Restaurant Meals Program within SNAP,arguing that benefits should be used for nutritious food rather than fast food. Only nine states currently permit SNAP funds to be used at fast-food outlets like McDonald’s and Taco bell. Critics say the program has become a loophole allowing taxpayers to subsidize unhealthy eating, and some politicians, including Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, have introduced legislation to eliminate this practice altogether, emphasizing the original aim of SNAP to promote nutrition and food security.
Food stamp recipients gobbled more than half a billion dollars on fast food over two years, with California eating up most of that sum.
The data came to light after Rep. Brandon Gill, a Republican from Texas, proposed a bill that would wipe out the Supplemental Nutrition Program’s Restaurant Meals Program, according to the New York Post.
From June 2023 through May 2025, more than $524 million in SNAP benefits were paid out at fast food restaurants.
About $475 million was paid out in California alone.
“SNAP is supposed to help struggling Americans put nutritious food on the table, not stick taxpayers with the bill for fast food,” Gill said, according to Newsweek.
“More than half a billion dollars in SNAP benefits have gone to restaurants through this loophole in just two years while the Trump administration is working to get junk food out of the program,” he said.
“My bill ends this ridiculous loophole and makes sure SNAP dollars are used for what the program was created to do: help Americans afford nutritious groceries,” he said.
Not every state gives SNAP recipients the option of gorging themselves at a fast food restaurant.
Of the nine states that allow the practice, Arizona was second with $41.4 million, followed by New York state at $3.6 million over the two-year period.
Michigan residents spent $1.3 million on fast food, Rhode Island was at $995,900, Massachusetts spending totaled $649,000, Illinois SNAP recipients spent $497,000, Virginia ate up $308,500, and Maryland spent $8,600.
About 13 percent of Californians are on benefits to buy food.
Subway, KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, and Burger King are among the thousands of restaurants covered by the program Gill wants to nix.
Last year, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa proposed ending the program allowing fast food chains to take a bite out of tax dollars.
“To stop this abuse and restore the SNAP program to its original mission of providing nutrition to food insecure Americans, Ernst is introducing the McStopping Chains from Using SNAP EBT to Make Entrees (McSCUSE ME) Act,” a news release on Ernst’s website said.
“The ‘N’ in SNAP stands for nutrition — not nuggets with a side of fries,” she said.
“I wish I was McRibbing you, but $250 million per year at the drive through is no joke and a serious waste of tax dollars. I hate to be the one to say McSCUSE ME, but something needs to be done because taxpayers are not lovin’ it,” she said.
According to the New York Post, the Restaurant Meals Program is considered by the Department of Agriculture to be “an accommodation for people who may be unable to prepare meals themselves or who lack permanent housing where food can be stored and cooked.”
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