The US food stamps program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), is currently growing at a rate of about 20,000 people a day, according to new data from the USDA.
The number of people receiving food stamps in August 2009 stood at 36.5m, the newly released figures show, up by more than a quarter compared to a year ago, when 29.5m people were enrolled with the program.
Its rapid growth rate comes as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveals the highest level of American food insecurity ever recorded, with 17 million households, or 14.6 percent, struggling to put food on the table at times during 2008. The department began nationally representative food security surveys in 1995.
From FOOD Navigator -USA 01-Dec-2009
The number of people receiving food stamps in August 2009 stood at 36.5m, the newly released figures show, up by more than a quarter compared to a year ago, when 29.5m people were enrolled with the program.
Its rapid growth rate comes as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reveals the highest level of American food insecurity ever recorded, with 17 million households, or 14.6 percent, struggling to put food on the table at times during 2008. The department began nationally representative food security surveys in 1995.
From FOOD Navigator -USA 01-Dec-2009
