Food stamps recipients nearing record 30 million

Fueled by rising unemployment and food prices, the number of Americans on food stamps is poised to exceed 30 million for the first time this month, surpassing the historic high set in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.

The Department of Agriculture is set to release the new numbers as early as this week. Agency officials declined to confirm the figures but outlined them in a briefing last month for advocates and administrators of state food stamp programs.

The figures will put the spotlight on the hunger issue when Congress begins deliberations on a new economic stimulus package, said legislators and poverty advocates, predicting that any stimulus bill would include a boost in food stamp benefits. Advocates are also optimistic that President-elect Barack Obama, who made campaign promises to end childhood hunger and whose mother once briefly received food stamps, will make the issue a priority next year.

“We soon will have the most food stamps recipients in the history of our country,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger policy organization. “If the economic forecasts come true, we’re likely to see the most hunger that we’ve seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programs were established.”

Breaking the symbolically important 30-million mark comes on the heels of government data that showed that 11.9 million people went hungry in America at some point last year. That included nearly 700,000 children, up more than 50% from the year before.

Food pantries and other charitable organizations are also reporting an increase in demand from those in need. Visits to local pantries are up 20% to 100% over the last six months, and calls to the Capital Area Food Bank’s hunger hotline have jumped 248%. Most are from people who have never used food stamps or a pantry before, said Lynn Brantley, the organization’s president and CEO.