Food-stamp use jumped in the U.S. in September as 11 states tapped into the program for disaster assistance.
Food stamp rolls have risen 7.8% in the past year, the Department of Agriculture reported, though the pace of growth has slowed from the depths of the recession.
The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), rose to 46.3 million, or 15% of the population, in part due to disaster assistance tied to the destruction and flooding caused by Hurricane Irene. Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia all received aid for disaster assistance. Use in New Jersey alone soared by nearly 33% in the wake of the storm.
But use increased in states that weren’t receiving aid. Minnesota, Hawaii, Iowa, Colorado, Alaska, California, Nevada, Florida, New Mexico and Georgia all saw year-over-year jumps in use by over 10%. Just Illinois, North Dakota and Wyoming posted annual drops in the number of people receiving food stamps.
Mississippi reported the largest share of its population relying on food stamps, more than 21%. One in five residents in New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee and Louisiana also were food stamp recipients.
Food stamp rolls exploded during the downturn, which began in late 2007. Even after the recession came to its official end in June 2009, families continued to tap into food assistance as unemployment remained high and those lucky enough to find jobs were often met with lower wages.
States also made changes to make it easier for residents to tap into the program, such as waiving requirements that limited the value of assets food stamp recipients could own.