New Study Finds Food Stamps Help Reduce Poverty

Finally, there’s some good news about food stamps that doesn’t have to do with fraud or Octomoms. A new study released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that the food-stamp program (SNAP) reduced the poverty rate by 8 percent in 2009.

The Times reports that the recession coincided with an increase in participation in the food-stamp program: Enrollment went up by 45 percent from January 2009 to January 2012. But this year, this increase has lessened slightly, a change that could indicate that the economic recovery was affecting families living below the poverty line, according to Stacy Dean, a researcher of the food-stamp program at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, who was quoted in the Times article. Meanwhile, food stamps are turning out to be useful for more than just feeding families. The Rose Supper Club in Montgomery, Alabama, has started charging a reduced cover of $5 to people who present a food-stamp card at the door, The Daily Caller reports. Fox News has picked up the story — and things were starting to look up publicity-wise for the government program.