More Americans use food stamps: Report

US citizens’ dependency on food stamps is at an all-time high with one in seven Americans using them, according to studies published recently.

The US Department of Agriculture said participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has increased over the past two years, Press TV reported.
“Towards the end of the month, when we’ve paid all the bills, and we don’t have any food, the food stamps really come in handy,” Rhonda Moore, a food stamp recipient, said.
US President Barack Obama signed a farm bill into law that would cut the food stamp program by about $9 billion over the next ten years.
The law would cut about $900 million a year from the SNAP, on which almost 47 million Americans rely to afford food.
Children and the elderly, who have so far become dependent on food stamps, cannot use these services anymore.
“You’re seeing much more strain on food banks, food pantries, these types of organizations that volunteer to provide meals for people,” economic analyst Edward Spannaus told Press TV.
“Enormous consequences for families that were dependent on this, it’s a big cut.”
Although corporate profits have been on the rise, the income of majority of working Americans, who use food stamps the most, have continued to decline.
Food stamp fraud is also on the rise costing Americans hundreds of millions of dollars a year, but it’s often the underprivileged who are often punished.
The US Department of Agriculture says that food-stamp fraud cost taxpayers $750 million only in 2011.
New statistics also show a rise in food stamps among the US military, which has been rising steadily since the beginning of the recession in 2008.
Approximately $104 million worth of food stamps was redeemed at military commissaries in the fiscal year which ended Sept. 30.
AT/AGB
Source: PressTV