Food Stamps Recipients Doubled in Last Five Years

According to an article in the Florida Times Union, Duval County (Jacksonville, FL) is experiencing a huge growth in the amount of people receiving food stamps (SNAP).

The Food Research and Action Center, an anti-poverty group, completed a report that reflects a 131% increase in SNAP recipients since 2005 - that equals 165,000 people. That figure puts the city at number 2, only behind Las Vegas, in the amount of reported people receiving food stamps....

Read the rest of the story by clicking the link below:

Food stamps now help 1 in 5 in Jacksonville

The funny thing about it, is the fact that there are tons of comments about how only "lazy people" use food stamps...some things will never change.

Selling Food Stamps for Kids’ Shoes - COLORLINES

The story is more than a year old, but I thought it was relevant. It outlines the life of a woman, Eva Hernandez, who lives in Connecticut - Connecticut has the shortest welfare (TANF) time maximum in the country (24 months).

Eva details her life since she received her last TANF check - she now has to use food stamps to buy shoes and other non-food items for her kids. She normally works fast food jobs to get by (in conjunction with her TANF), but since the recession, even fast food jobs are hard to come by.

It is an interesting read, catch it here:

Selling Food Stamps for Kids’ Shoes - COLORLINES