What a Record to Be Proud Of

Food stamp usage is on the rise, and one out of seven households now rely on the program for survival, such as it is.

States put all kinds of roadblocks for people to apply for the program and try to continue the stigma attached to having rely on it instead of eating out of dumpsters. This despite the fact the vast majority of recipients are or have been paying taxes which help fund the program.

Nationally, about two thirds of all eligible households receive food stamps, but there is great variation among the states. In Texas and California, for example, less than half of eligible households receive SNAP benefits. Even though the program is funded in full—except for administrative costs—by the federal government, California vindictively requires those seeking food assistance submit to fingerprinting and a 13-page application.

Only about one third of the nation’s 7 million food stamp-eligible senior citizens receive assistance. Many of the remainder may be unaware of the program or confused about how it works.
“A lot of people aren’t aware that they are eligible, particularly the elderly,” Barb Rupert of Commission on Economic Opportunity in Luzerne and Wyoming counties in Northeast Pennsylvania told the Hazleton Standard Speaker. In Luzerne County, an old coal-mining region, food stamp use is up 12.1 percent in two years.

Never underestimate the "shame" factor, either, which makes people feel guilty for even thinking about applying for it. After all, the GOP has tried and has succeeded in demonizing the poor for decades.