For the rest of the world, America represents a land of opportunities, where every dream meets a prosperous reality. However, new estimates, released by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), throw this rosy picture off kilter as it is revealed that almost 15% of the Americans are dependent on food stamps to survive in their daily life. The number of beneficiaries under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) of the US Government, popularly known as the Food Stamp Program, reached an all-time high of 45.8 million in May this year, which is 34% more than what it was in 2009.

What are Food Stamps?

The Government launched the Food Stamp Program to help low-income individuals buy food for sustaining a nutritious diet. According to USDA, about 46 million Americans, out of a population of 311 million people, purchase their food using these stamps. This is the highest number of Americans using food stamps in the history of the country. The monetary help given under this program is enlisted as follows:-

• An eligible person receives $200 per month in food stamps, in the form of a debit card, to be used in the market.
• A two-person household receives $367 per month while a household of three members gets $526 every month.
• For a family of four persons, this amount is $668/month.

Experts attribute this steep growth in the food stamp program to rising levels of unemployment and weakening US economy. 

Sample this:

• About 27 million Americans were dependent on food stamps in 2007 and the number had increased to 31 million in another one year.
• In October 2010, the number of US citizens using food stamps had reached 43 million and by May this year, the figure had become more than 45 million.

Conclusion

With so many Americans dependent on this program for their daily sustenance, any cuts in this program’s expenditure have been kept exempt from the purview of the recently approved first round of about $1 trillion debt ceiling spending cuts.

As of now, this program is here to stay and with an increasing number of citizens dependent on it, it seems that the food stamp program is the main weapon for America in its battle against hunger.

Image Credit: foodstamps2011.com