Everyone should have safe access to affordable groceries. That's why we're pushing for online purchase and delivery of food stamp groceries. 

(Please share the message: http://change.org/SNAPOnline)

But what about folks without reliable Internet access? Great question!

As we push for online food stamp options, we're also pushing for mobile options. Low-income communities are more likely to have mobile smartphone access than online Internet access—government services must go mobile to reach everyone who needs them. Code for America writes:

"More American adults own smartphones (78%) than desktop and laptop computers combined (73%). Even more critical for a state agency perspective is the emergence of smartphone-dependent households. The percentage of households who do not use broadband internet at home but own smartphones has increased from 8% in 2013 to 20% in 2018. Perhaps most striking, two out of every three adults with income below $30,000 per year own a smartphone, and 31% of them exclusively rely on a smartphone for access to the internet."

If the data alone isn't convincing, listen to the stories from Code for America's outreach campaign:

"'I kind of hate computers. They break when I touch them…. I just have my phone — that’s it.'
— SNAP-beneficiary in Alaska

'Applying online would be so much easier…I don’t have internet in my house. I have internet on my phone. I’d probably do it there.'
 — SNAP-beneficiary in Alaska

'That was amazing! I did the app on the resident’s phone and he finished in 5 minutes. He was so ecstatic that he could do that.'

—Michigan case worker"

'Go digital! I mean really, everybody is getting into it. It’s easier…I could [apply for benefits] on my phone. I’ve done so many job applications that took a long time from my phone. '
— SNAP-beneficiary in Michigan'"

Mobile access to government services is part of the answer to our fundamental question: How do provide essential services to those in need, equitably and effectively?