Food Stamps For Thought, Part 7

Another month, another record number of people on SNAP:  44.2 million in February, just a smidge higher than January but higher nonetheless.

The number of Americans receiving food stamps rose to a record 44.199 million in February, up from 44.188 million in the previous month, the government said.

Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program subsidies for food purchases jumped 12 percent from a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today in a statement on its website. Participation has set records every month since December 2008. Increases have slowed in recent months as unemployment levels declined. 

The 11,000 person increase is by far the lowest increase in the program in years, suggesting that maybe, finally, we've hit a plateau on this.  But with rising food and gas prices I'm betting that the pace of adding people to the SNAP rolls will continue to gain steam.

We're a long, long way from being out of this mess.