Wonder if there is a break down between US Seniors who for the most part qualify for $10-30 in food stamps and illegals who get hundreds of $$ in food stamps.
I know the community center where I quilt is the staging area for food commodities...and the number of US Seniors going there for commodities has nearly tripled in the past 18 months. It was rising well before the May floods in TN. I could see a temporary rise because of the flood, BUT NOT to continue to climb 6 months later. We are talking very frail 70+, most in wheel chairs, walkers, funky canes etc.
http://www.muckrock.com/foi/view/massachusetts/food-stamp-reimbursements-for-january-may-2010/11/
On this link there’s a link to an excel sheet where the numbers came from (Annual_SNAP_query.xls) There are listings for community centers, etc. but they are very slight in comparison to the money going to retail stores in MA - I will assume the break outs are the same in other states.
It should be more cost effective to get food from centers instead of retail stores - it will cut out the profit margins anywhere from 20-60%. It’s not pure food costs it’s also retailer profits.