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Nearly 1 in 5 Households Will Celebrate Thanksgiving on Food Stamps

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Nearly one in five U.S. households will celebrate Thanksgiving on food stamps this year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on participation in the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program.

Back in fiscal 2000, there were 106,061,000 households in the United States and, according to a USDA report published in November 2012, there was a monthly average of 7,335,000 households—or 6.9 percent—getting food stamps that year.

SNAP PARTICIPATION IN HOUSEHOLD-PERCENTAGE-CHART

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New Federal Program to Double SNAP Value When Used to Buy Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

When the farm bill was passed earlier this year, there was a little-hyped program included that seeks to double the value of SNAP (food stamp) dollars when they’re spent at farmer’s markets for fresh fruits and vegetables.

The program is an expansion of smaller programs at farmers markets throughout the country. The Crossroads Farmer’s Market was the recipient of a $5,000 grant from the National Watermelon Association, and used that money to redeem SNAP funds for double their value in the market. (A person would redeem 15 dollars of SNAP funds from their EBT card for 30 dollars worth of tokens to spend in the market.) Another program located in Harlem and the South Bronx gives SNAP recipients four additional “HealthBucks” coupons for fruits and vegetables for every ten dollars of SNAP funds spent at a farmer’s market.

The program has received support from both sides of the aisle, according to NPR:

He invited one of Michigan’s senators — Democrat Debbie Stabenow — to see Double Up Food Bucks for herself. And last year, Stabenow, who is chairwoman of the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, proposed including it in the so-called farm bill.

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Food Stamp Recipients Top 46 Million for 36th Straight Month

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The number of beneficiaries on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–food stamps–has now topped 46,000,000 for 36 straight months, according to new data released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

From September 2011 through August 2014, the latest month for which data is available, the number of persons participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has exceeded 46 million.

FOOD STAMP CHART-AUGUST

In August 2014, according to USDA, there were 46,484,828 beneficiaries of the SNAP program. That was down slightly—2,060 beneficiaries—from the 46,486,888 who got food stamps in July.

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Food Stamp Recipients, Advocates Sue Over Work Requirements

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Photo Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty

Photo Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty

Most Americans agree that able-bodied adults should be required to do some type of work to receive welfare assistance. But two nonprofit groups and a handful of food stamp recipients in New Mexico are suing the state for trying to encourage just that.

Last Friday, a New Mexico district judge placed a temporary hold on the work requirements, which were set to go into effect Nov. 1. On Wednesday of this week, Republican Gov. Susana Martinez announced that the state would restart the process of putting the work requirements into place rather than going through the litigation process. The state will pursue the same work requirements.

While the food stamp program doesn’t have much of a work requirement, it does have a modest one for able-bodied adults without children (or other dependents). Able-bodied adults without children are limited to three months of food stamp benefits unless they work or participate in some type of work activity for at least 20 hours a week. However, since 2009 New Mexico—along with many other states—has received a federal waiver allowing them to bypass the work requirement. But New Mexico has decided to forego the waiver. The state also plans to insert modest work requirements for other able-bodied adults who don’t have young children (under age 6), requiring them to look for work or participate in community service.

But the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty and the Southwest Organizing Project say that work requirements are unfair and are suing the New Mexico Human Services Department.

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Grayson’s Wife, Kids Now On Government Assistance

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Photo Credit: APBarely a week after being named the 17th richest member of Congress, liberal firebrand and Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson is refusing to support his estranged wife and their kids, and his wife has turned to government food stamps to support her family, WFTV 9 Orlando reports.

Grayson’s marriage of 29 years dissolved earlier this year when his wife, Lolita Grayson, filed for divorce. A week later, Rep. Grayson asked a court to annul the marriage on the basis of bigamy.

Mr. Grayson is refusing to support his family because he is claiming that she was never divorced from her first husband and therefore their marriage was never legitimate.

Mrs. Grayson told WFTV 9 Orlando she never thought she would be on food stamps or have her kids on the school lunch, because her husband was “the sole provider,” she said. “I don’t have any money at all. He’s been holding all our money for years and years.”

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Welfare Sign-ups Beat Job Creation 2-to-1 in Illinois

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For every job created in the state of Illinois, two people sign-up for food stamps—not exactly an encouraging statistic. The state ranked ‘dead last’ across America for job growth in 2014, according to the Illinois Policy.

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Unprecedented: Food Stamp Enrollments Top 45 Million, 3 Years in a Row

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

President Barack Obama and vulnerable Democrats facing tough midterm elections in 71 days are scrambling to prop up the moribund U.S. economy in the minds of disgruntled voters. However, one of the quickest shorthand economic measurements–food stamp enrollments–paints a startling portrait of the “new normal” in the Obama economy.

According to the Department of Agriculture’s most recently released data, the number of individuals enrolled in the food stamp program (known officially as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP) has remained above 45 million every single month for three years straight.

In May 2011, 45,410,683 individuals received food stamps. As of May 2014 (the most recent date for which data are available), 46,225,054 people were on food stamps. At no point between the two dates did the number of food stamp enrollments ever fall below the 45 million mark.

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Odd Trends: More Americans Remain on Food Stamps, Post-Recession

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Photo Credit: TownHall

Photo Credit: TownHall

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly referred to as food stamps) has seen a meteoric rise in enrollment in the last fifteen years, and especially in the wake of the 2008 recession. The spike in SNAP recipients post-2008 is to be expected – but the maintenance of those high enrollment numbers is an anomaly.

American Enterprise Institute scholar Robert Doar testified before the House Committee on Agriculture recently to examine this exact question. Doar notes that changes in the SNAP program that took place during this time period may disincentivize work requirements – and keep SNAP participation among working-age population artificially high.

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11 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Buy With Food Stamps

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Photo Credit: Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesFood stamps have become a major facet of the American system. And as the number of welfare recipients increases, so does the number of items that can be purchased with a food stamp Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card.

Government assistant programs have been on a steady recipient incline for the last 50 years. For the FY 2013, a record number of Americans were receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. In 2008, 28.2 million Americans were on food stamps, and an additional 19.4 million have been added in the last five years. Today, 47 million Americans are on food stamps.

Over the past few years, EBT has been used for some “questionable” items. Here are 11 questionable items that you can (or will soon be able to) purchase with an EBT card.

Quesarito: Taco Bell is one of many fast food restaurants that accept EBT cards. Guacamole is extra? Who cares? It’s on the taxpayer.

Bail: Convicted felons – like drug dealer Kimball Clark – have reportedly used their EBT as bail money. Clark reportedly instructed someone to go to an ATM to withdraw money from his EBT for bail. Because it’s difficult to trace ATM abuse, many speculate this problem is more widespread and not just found in isolated incidents.

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Charges Filed In ‘One Of The Largest’ Food Stamp Frauds EVER

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Photo Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty ImagesFederal charges have been filed against dozens of people in Georgia who allegedly set up a scheme that funneled $18 million worth of food stamps through grocery stores in what a Department of Justice official is calling “one of the largest federal food program frauds ever.”

Fifty-four people were indicted for their roles in the massive fraud which involved the illegal purchase of WIC and food stamp benefits.

The fraud “allegedly involved the purchase of more than $18 million in WIC vouchers and Food Stamp benefits for cash through a number of purported grocery stores set up throughout Georgia.”

Another 34 defendants were indicted for selling their benefits. Through the WIC program, participants receive 3-month supplies of vouchers which can be exchanged for food at authorized stores. The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food stamp benefits to low-income families.

It is illegal to sell WIC and SNAP benefits for cash, though that did not stop the 88 people involved in the scam.

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