Food Stamps: Mostly White People Get Food Stamps Nationwide

Mostly white people get food stamps, according to a revealing report shared by the Huffington Post. The news source looked at a graph generated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on statistical findings that show whites are the ones receiving the most benefits nationwide from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The report uses 2013 data from the USDA that displays 40.2 percent of SNAP recipients as being white. Others are 25.7 percent blacks, 10.3 percent Hispanics, 2.1 percent Asians, and 1.2 percent Native Americans.

The chart was published one week after Rep. Gene Alday of Mississippi made a comment about African Americans in his hometown of Walls taking advantage of food stamps by not working; he refers to the system as “welfare crazy checks.” The Inquisitr wrote on this story last week, when Alday made headlines with his controversial remark. He has since apologized, but many aren’t buying it.

With that said, the Huffington Post writes that two congressional districts overlapping Alday’s state legislature district actually have more blacks receiving food stamps than whites, but USDA data shows it’s mostly whites who are enrolled in SNAP.

MSNBC reported that former Republican Rep. Ron Paul — the father of potential Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul from Kentucky — believes that the Congressional Black Caucus doesn’t want money going to war because they want it going to food stamps. He said this when the topic of sanctions was being discussed.

“I was always annoyed with it in Congress because we had an anti-war unofficial group, a few libertarian Republicans and generally the Black Caucus and others did not – they are really against war because they want all of that money to go to food stamps for people here.”

The racial comment isn’t thought to help Rand Paul too much if he decides to run for president for 2016. A large portion of Rand Paul’s political career has been described as promoting his father’s messages and agendas, according to MSNBC.

Forty-seven million Americans received food stamps in 2013. Enrollment did go down from 23 million households receiving benefits to 22 million in 2014. The data further shows that 75 percent of those households included a child, an elderly person, or an individual with a disability. Average monthly benefits per household in 2013 was $274 and $256 in 2014.

Eligibility rules for SNAP vary from state-to-state. Federal law puts the higher income limit at 200 percent of the poverty line, which is now $20,090 for a family of three. SNAP recipients are also checked for being on Medicaid or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in order to receive food stamps.

[Image via Grist]