Thursday, September 21 — On this date in 1959, Congress acted to help some Americans achieve minimum levels of nutrition, passing a bill which created food stamps for those with low incomes. In 2008, the Food Stamp Program was renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Today, there are over 44 million Americans enrolled in the program, more than double the number from 2003. The average value of the benefit they receive each month is $125, and the total cost of the federal program is around $67 billion a year. The states with the participation rates at over 19 percent are Oregon and Mississippi. States with the lowest are Wyoming, North Dakota, New Hampshire and Colorado.
You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online.
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