The U.S. food-stamp program is set to shrink in the months ahead.
The only real question is by how much.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) currently
costs about $80 billion per year and provides food aid to 14 percent of all
U.S. households — some 47 million people. Those numbers swelled dramatically during
the recession.
But the food-stamp program is now set to downsize in the weeks
ahead. There's a big automatic cut scheduled for Nov. 1, as a temporary boost
from the 2009 stimulus bill expires. That change will trim about $5 billion
from federal food-stamp spending over the coming year.
And that's not all: The number of Americans on food stamps could
drop even further in the months ahead, as Congress and various states
contemplate further changes to the program. Here's a rundown:
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