As unemployment rates skyrocket, food stamp usage soars

Thursday, September 13, 2012 by: Ben
Tags: food stamps, unemployment, U.S. economy

(NaturalNews) In the economy's current state, more and more American families are finding it harder to stay afloat. That's where government aid comes in. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a program designed to help the struggling afford food by the use of food stamps - and thanks to the lack of jobs these days, SNAP is working overtime.

It was in June that food stamp usage hit a record high of 46.7 million people, or approximately 15 percent of America's population. As long as unemployment rates continue to be above eight percent, it is expected that there will be little or no improvement for families dependent on SNAP.

The food stamp program is the largest yearly expense for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, costing the largest sum yet last year at $75.7 billion. Government officials who disapprove of SNAP costing so much money have proposed a 10-year plan that will drop the cost by $33 billion.

All this money is dispersed amongst the participants of the food stamp programs, and then where does it go? Into the pockets of food companies.

It is becoming a concern that the people who utilize food stamps to purchase their groceries are not limited to what they buy. In this day and age, obesity is a rapidly growing problem, and SNAP is not accountable for its participation in the epidemic. While the use of food stamps monitors the price of a trip to the grocery store, it does not monitor the goods in the cart, and some health advocates would like to see this changed. Additionally, it is theorized by some that those participating in SNAP are more likely to struggle with weight problems than non-participants.

Interestingly, the USDA has encouraged people to utilize the food stamp program. This raises the question: how many people using food stamps actually need the government assistance?

Sources for this article include:

http://bottomline.nbcnews.com

http://abcnews.go.com

http://www.bloomberg.com

About the author:
Ben enjoys writing about the benefits of green tea at Tendig.com, a revenue sharing site that publishes unique and interesting articles.