- Food stamp use soars in S. Dakota, By Jon Walker, December 2, 2009, Sioux Falls Argus Leader: “Food stamps are putting supper on the table for more South Dakota families, and the usage has soared in Sioux Falls, home of the state’s most robust economy. Statewide use of the government benefit jumped 34 percent this fall compared to a year ago, and in Minnehaha County, the rate rose 52 percent. ‘Obviously, it’s the hard economic times. Some folks who were always eligible just scraped by and did not apply. Now, they can’t just scrape by anymore,’ said Kim Malsam-Rysdon, deputy secretary of the South Dakota Department of Social Services in Pierre. More than one-tenth of South Dakotans now use food stamps, which give eligible households an average of $319 a month for groceries. The income limit for a family of four to qualify is $2,389 a month or $28,668 a year…”
- Report: Food stamp rolls have grown in La., By Sarah Chacko, December 3, 2009, Baton Rouge Advocate: “More Louisiana families are receiving food stamps now than in the past 20 years, a trend mirroring national reports that more people are in need of the federal assistance because of job loss. Nationwide, the number of food stamp recipients has climbed by about 10 million since 2007, resulting in a program that feeds one in eight Americans and nearly one in four children, according to a story published Sunday in The New York Times. However, Louisiana’s trends may not be directly linked to a poor economy, a state official said…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty