FoodShare logo (2021)

Wisconsin households that receive FoodShare will now receive added benefits to help them access food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The temporary increase will begin this month and last until June 2021. It was part of the federal COVID-19 stimulus package signed into law in December 2020. FoodShare households will be able to use these benefits for in-person and online purchasing.

FoodShare recipients are being notified of this change via notification letters, as well as emails for those members who have shared this information with DHS. Information about the increase is also available on the DHS website.

Recipients do not need to do anything to receive the increase. It will be added to their Quest cards automatically.

The increase is separate from the emergency allotments that DHS has been able to provide FoodShare households because of the state’s public health emergency declaration. The emergency allotments provide FoodShare households the maximum amount for their family size. The maximum amounts have temporarily increased by 15% so households will receive benefits up to those amounts while Wisconsin’s public health emergency is still in effect.

DHS also announced Jan. 13 that the grocery store chain ALDI is joining Amazon and Walmart as online shopping options for Foodshare households.

Wisconsin is one of 29 states that the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has approved to pilot online shopping using FoodShare benefits.

Beginning in late November, FNS added ALDI stores to the list of grocery locations where households using FoodShare can shop online. Amazon and Walmart are the other stores. Costs associated with non-eligible items, fees, or delivery are the responsibility of the member.

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