Yet Another Sign of Our Strong Recovery: RECORD 43.2 MILLION Americans receiving Foodstamps

1/7/2011
The USDA released their SNAP (a.k.a. food stamp) usage report for October 2010 and sadly, 43.2 million Americans are receiving Food Stamp assistance (40% increase from October 20008). All told, 20.1 million households rely on food stamps in order to feed their families. The average benefit per month per person was $133.76 and an average per household benefit of $286.30.

5.5 million more Americans relied on Food Stamps in October 2010 than in October 2009. 2.9 million more households received Food Stamp assistance in October 2010 versus the same month in 2009.

During the month of October 2008, 30.8 million Americans received food stamps representing 13.9 million households.

Thanks to Zero Hedge for Copy/Paste Chart

14% of all Americans relying on food stamps to feed their families

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Wall Street blew off the abysmal non-farm payroll report this morning and deemed it a fluke given the other "positive" economic reports. Wall Street will likely deem the poverty level in this country a fluke when trading commences next week. Wall Street attitude: too bad if you lost your job or lack enough food on the table to feed your family. We are Wall Street...We are God and we have the backing of the U.S. Government and specifically Bernanke to assure our success....and we eat very well!

USDA reports 42.911 million Americans using food stamps in September 2010. This is an increase of 520,000 people from August 2010 and an increase of 5.992 million (16%) Americans from September 2009. USDA reported the average benefit is $133.80. Eligibility Requirements

For the record, 42.911 million Americans on Food Stamps is a record. Roughly 14% of all Americans receive Food Stamps. USDA Data and Reports

Thanks to Zero Hedge for the Chart

First, Feed the Children

By Jeff Bridges and Bill Shore
Timesunion.com
11/23/10

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, it's hard to believe that there might be a kid on our block who doesn't know when her next meal will come. Just last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that nearly one in four children struggles with hunger.

For most Americans with enough to eat, the hungry kid in our neighborhood is invisible. Hunger in the U.S. doesn't look like famine in developing countries, but its consequences are nonetheless devastating. Children who don't regularly get enough healthy food suffer behavioral difficulties, fatigue, poorer health, weaker immune systems and more hospitalizations. Hungry kids also show impaired performance in school. More than 60 percent of public school teachers identify hunger as a problem in the classroom. Many buy food for their hungry students.

We can end childhood hunger in America in this decade, maybe in the next five years. Programs are already in place. We need to get more children into them.

National food and nutrition programs can be the difference between empty stomachs and good health. Access to these programs makes economic sense. Every $5 the federal government spends on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, generates $9.20 in local economic activity.

Every time we increase access to programs, federal funding flows into local communities. Orange County, Fla., used targeted marketing to increase summer meal participation by 76 percent last year. It was able to access more than $2 million.

Several states are following suit.

With the backing of Gov. Bill Ritter, the Colorado Campaign to End Childhood Hunger helped increase the number of summer meals served by more than 25 percent from 2009 to 2010. By successfully lobbying for legislation to expand food stamp eligibility, End Childhood Hunger Washington helped raise food stamp participation by 64 percent, reaching an additional 370,000 people. And Gov. Martin O'Malley's Partnership to End Childhood Hunger in Maryland increased the number of low-income children eating summer meals by 17.4 percent in 2009.

Share Our Strength and the End Hunger Network are collaborating with communities where leaders are realizing that until they expand participation in food programs, they are shortchanging not just their children but also our nation. Public and private sectors should work together to make programs more effective.

Help for hungry children is surely a bipartisan cause. Congress can demonstrate its commitment by passing the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act, which would strengthen many of the most important hunger and nutrition programs, including school breakfast and summer meals. The bill passed the Senate in August and is awaiting House action. It will be weakened if we wait for the next Congress.

We have food. It's Thanksgiving. Let's act now to ensure that all of our children eat, learn, grow and thrive.

Actor Jeff Bridges is founder of the nonprofit End Hunger Network. Bill Shore founded and is executive director of Share Our Strength, a nonprofit working to make sure no child in America grows up hungry. They wrote this for The Washington Post.

Hunger In America: If only children could vote

50 million people are facing hunger,

right here in our own communities.

And more than 17 million of them are children.

If only children could vote.

November 17, 2010
Today on the Huffington Post, Vicki Escarra writes about the urgent need for Congress to pass the Child Nutrition bill before Congress adjourns for the year. Please read the post to learn how you can help too.

50 million people. According to the USDA, that’s how many people are facing hunger, right here in our own communities. And more than 17 million of them are children.

We’re talking about children in every community, and of parents from all backgrounds and income levels. Lost wages and homes, and depleted 401Ks, nest eggs, and college savings have left million families without the cushion they thought they’d have to fall back on in the event of an emergency. With greater frequency, we are seeing people, who once had well-paying jobs, nice homes, a couple of cars, and enough extra money for investments and vacations, seeking assistance from food pantries. As a mother, I can only imagine the dread parents must feel as they watch their resources dwindle, knowing that, soon, they’ll have to worry about how they’ll feed their children.

While experts claim that the worst of the recession is over, we know that millions of families are still struggling, and will continue to struggle for years to come. That’s why it is imperative that Congress pass the Child Nutrition bill this year.

Yesterday, Feeding America hosted a virtual Town Hall on Child Nutrition with 1,500 citizens across the country to discuss what’s at stake if Congress doesn’t pass the Child Nutrition bill. The message was clear: our children cannot afford to wait another year for improved access to nutrition.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, and Chef Tom Colicchio joined us for the Town Hall. As both Secretary Vilsack and Chairman Miller reiterated on the call, this bill is an extraordinary and historic opportunity to address the challenges we face with both child hunger and obesity. Passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (S. 3307) will:

• Improve and expand school breakfast programs to make sure all children have access to the most important meal of the day;
• Improve the nutritional quality of the 8 billion school meals serve each year;
• Allow afterschool programs to provide suppers in all 50 states, not just the current 14;
• Strengthen the summer food program to make sure no child goes hungry just because school is out for the summer.

With one in four children at risk of hunger, the price of inaction is high. Right now, we have a rare chance to make sure that children don’t go hungry. If Congress doesn’t pass the Child Nutrition bill during the Lame Duck session, it is likely that the the opportunity and funding to improve nutrition for our children will be gone for many years.

We need your help to get the message to Congress that the time to help feed hungry children is now. And as Chef Colicchio made clear, each of us has a responsibility to use our voice on behalf of our nation’s children. You can help by:

• sharing this post with friends or colleagues;
• calling or sending a message to your Representatives, urging them to pass the child nutrition bill this year;
• signing the Feeding America twitterr petition to pass the Child Nutrition bill;
• sharing Feeding America’s video about child hunger and obesity; and
• joining our Facebook group and update your own status to motivate your friends to get the word out.

As Secretary Vilsack put it during yesterday’s Town Hall, “[Children] don’t have a powerful lobby. They don’t make campaign contributions, and they don’t vote. But they are one hundred percent of our future.” It’s up to us to help them be heard.

USDA reports 40.8 million Americans receiving food stamps (18.94 million households)

The USDA reported that 40,801,392 Americans received food stamps in the Month of May 2010. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was utilized by 18,894,490 U.S. households.

May's usage is an increase of 371,000 people over April 2010. May 2010's figure is 6.32 million more people than May 2009 (18.6%).

The number of households receiving food stamps in May 2010 is up 3.32 million over May 2009 (21.3%). The total cost of the Food Stamp program for May 2010 was $5.458 billion versus $4.596 billion in May 2009.

The average per person benefit for the month of May 2010 was $133.77 and $288.87 per household. Total SNAP expenditures for fiscal year 2009 was $50.360 billion (an increase of $15.752 billion over fiscal year 2008).

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the U.S. population to be 310 million in 2010 and estimates 115 million households. Based on these estimates, 13% of the American population and 16% of all U.S. households received food stamps in the month of May.

Truly a sad commentary given the resources of the United States. Another sad commentary is the potential $11+ billion cut to the food stamp program slated for 2014 as a result of the Senate "horse trading" in order to pass another $26 billion bailout to the states. Yes, our $174,000 salaried "representatives" doing what they do best...sticking it to those that are hanging on by a thread.

Their continual disregard for children and grandchildren is beyond sad.