The Food Stamp Recovery: The Unprecedented Increase in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program 2008-12.......

 The increase in participation in 2008 was caused by a combination of widened benefit eligibility, the recession, and a concerted effort to expand access to benefits. The 2008 Farm Bill changed the name of the program from the Food Stamp Program to SNAP, in an effort to reduce the social stigma associated with receiving benefits. As of October 1, 2008, the minimum benefit and standard deduction for households were increased. The cap for child care expenses was also eliminated. There were also changes aimed at combating fraud, including disqualification of people who sold benefits or food obtained with SNAP benefits for cash, and the bill allowed the USDA more flexibility in setting consequences including fines and disqualification periods for retailers who engaged in food stamp fraud.[4]

Food-Stamp Use Climbed to Record 46.7 Million in June, U.S. .....

A record 46.7 million Americans received food stamps in June, up 0.4 percent from the previous month, the government said.

Participation was 3.3 percent higher than a year earlier and has remained higher than 46 million all year as the unemployment rate has stagnated just above 8 percent. New jobless numbers will be released Sept. 7.

The Conservationist's Case for Ending the Reign of Ethanol......

Get the government involved and this is typical of what happens...even if originally well meaning!

For one thing, rapidly rising commodity prices and crop subsidies encourage farming practices that may stress farm land and undermine the government’s own conservation efforts. For example, based on 2010 crop yield averages, one acre produced 152.8 bushels of corn. At an average $5.18 per bushel for 2010–2011, a farmer could earn around $790 per acre, compared to only $45 per acre for land enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers to not farm their land.