1.1.2 FoodShare Benefits

FNS Memo 12/18/14

FoodShare benefits are used to purchase food at grocery stores that participate in FoodShare Wisconsin.

FoodShare benefits are deposited in a participant’s account using an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system and are spent using a debit card called the Wisconsin QUEST Card. The Wisconsin QUEST card allows access to FoodShare benefits through point-of-sale or swipe card terminals at food stores. These transactions look like any other debit card transaction and are free to the cardholder.

FoodShare benefits can be used to buy foods such as:

Breads and cereals;
Fruits and vegetables;
Meats, fish, and poultry;
Dairy products; and
Seeds and plants that produce food for the household to eat.

FoodShare benefits cannot be used to buy items such as:

Nonfood items (such as pet foods, soaps, paper products, household supplies, grooming items, toothpaste, and cosmetics;
Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, or tobacco);
Food that will be eaten in the store; or
Hot foods.

If a container deposit fee is required when purchasing an eligible food item, this additional fee cannot be paid by using FoodShare benefits. The container deposit fee must be paid in cash or through another form of payment.

If the member has additional questions about specific food items, see the Food and Nutrition Service’s list of eligible food items.

If the member eats at a group meal site for the elderly or has meals delivered to his/her home, he/she can use FoodShare benefits to pay for these meals if the facility or meal provider is authorized to accept the QUEST card.

FoodShare benefits can be used for group meals if the facility is authorized to accept the QUEST card and the member is staying in a drug and alcohol treatment center, a shelter for battered persons, a shelter for the homelessAn individual who lacks a fixed and regular nighttime residence or an individual whose primary nighttime residence is: 1) A supervised shelter designed to provide temporary accommodations (such as a welfare hotel or congregate shelter), 2) A halfway house or similar institution that provides temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, 3) A temporary accommodation for not more than 90 days in the residence of another individual, or 4) A place not designed for, or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (for example, a hallway, bus station, a lobby, or similar places). or a group home for the disabled.

This page last updated in Release Number: 15-02

Release Date: 04/30/2015

Effective Date: 04/30/2015