Food stamp enrollment totaled 46.5 million people, or nearly one in seven Americans, for three months in a row, say USDA data. That’s down by 1.2 million recipients, or 2.5 percent, from a year ago. Record enrollment was 47.79 million people in December 2012.
NPR tells the story behind a $100 million initiative in the 2014 farm law to encourage food stamp recipients to eat more fruit and vegetables. It’s the “double bucks” idea of doubling the amount available for food stamp participants to spend at farmers markets.
In a Veterans Day release, the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said roughly 1.7 million veterans live in households that received food stamps at some point in the past 12 months. It said in two states, Florida and Texas, more than 100,000 veterans rely on food stamps “to help put food on the table.” CBPP said the jobless rate for recent veterans was 9 percent, well above the U.S. average although the unemployment rate for veterans overall was low.