One in Five Louisianians Now on Food Stamps

State has 3rd highest recipient rate in nation

NEW ORLEANS – The latest data from the United States Department of Agriculture shows that 852,000 Louisiana residents receive food stamps, up by 12.1 percent since July of 2009. Recipients now account for 19.0 percent of the state’s population, well above the current national average of 13.6 percent. Nationwide, there is now a record total of 41.8 million food stamp recipients.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Number of Individuals Participating

	Jul-09	Jul-10	Percentage Change
Louisiana	760,022	851,744	12.1%
USA	35,602,939	41,836,330	17.5%

Louisiana’s recipient growth over the last year was slightly lower than the national trend, which has been on the rise with the latest recession. Still, only Mississippi and Tennessee have higher participation rates – each with 19.9 percent versus Louisiana’s 19.0 percent. Wyoming’s rate of 6.5 percent is the lowest.

Leading States for Resident Food Stamp Participation

	State	Percentage
1	Tennessee	19.9%
2	Mississippi	19.9%
3	Louisiana	19.0%
4	Oregon	19.0%
5	New Mexico	18.8%
6	West Virginia	18.7%
7	Michigan	18.5%
8	Kentucky	18.4%
9	South Carolina	17.9%
10	Maine	17.9%
	USA	13.6%

Louisiana’s Department of Children and Family Services oversees the food stamp program, and Trey Williams, the department’s director of communications, has observed the “consistent increase over the past year in [food stamp] cases.” He believes it is “primarily attributable to changes in the economy and the impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on coastal parishes.”

This year the federal government renamed the Food Stamp Program the “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” or SNAP, and they assign the administrative costs to the state but fund all recipient payments. In the first 10 months of this fiscal year alone, SNAP cost the federal government almost $56 billion – including $1.1 billion in Louisiana. If one takes into consideration other food support programs, the federal government has spent $78 billion. On average, Louisiana spends $4.5 million a month on SNAP administrative costs, including salaries for workers.

Each of Louisiana’s food stamp recipients must meet “resource and income tests,” which equate to less than $2,000 or $3,000 on hand, depending on age, and a sliding scale of income bands. The income criteria are here, and a relatively lower income and larger household size lead to increased payments. Households with individuals already on some form of welfare program are exempt from the resource limit.

Like the published cost of SNAP, however, household recipient numbers would be higher if they were to account for all governmental food provision. Some participants in the National School Lunch and Women Infants Children programs, for example, are not included. However, since there is crossover – people collecting in more than one program – precise data on all food provision recipients is not readily available.