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Friday, January 11th, 2013

One in Four Children in America are on Food Stamps

Author:    
Source:     The Mail (U.K.)
Publication Date:     20:55 EST, 9 January 2013
Link: One in Four Children in America are on Food Stamps
Stephan:   I don't know. Maybe it is because today is my birthday, and I woke up this morning and realized I was now 71 years old. Maybe it is because this afternoon, Ronlyn and I, as part of a small group, met with our Representative Rick Larsen, who admitted to us that with 85 teabaggers in the House committed to blocking government it was very possible the 113th Congress would be as bad as the 112th. Or maybe it was those Catholic stories people sent me. Whatever the reason this story left me outraged. How is it possible that 25 per cent of American children stand teetering on the edge of hunger? What has happened to us as a people? And why does almost none of this get covered in the corporate media? Why did I find an account of an American report featured only in a British newspaper? And how can any politician defend trying to cut these food programs?

One in four children in the U.S. are on food stamps as participation in the program continues to rise, according to 2011 data from the United States Department of Agriculture and U.S. Census Bureau.

A total of 19.9 million children benefited from the food supplement out of a population of 73.9 million Americans under the age of 18, the Census Bureau estimates in a new report released this week.

The rise in the number of recipients has come under fire by Republicans who have suggested U.S. President Barack Obama is more firmly establishing himself as ‘the Food Stamp President.’

Participation in the program, which is still referred to as food stamps in the American vernacular though the supplement is now loaded to a debit card, has increased by leaps and bounds during Mr Obama’s tenure.

The president, who was labeled the ‘Food Stamp President’ by former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, has thrown his support behind the USDA’s outreach efforts to enroll more people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

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