US Spent Record $80.4B on Food Stamps in Fiscal 2012

The U.S. government spent a record $80.4 billion on food stamps in fiscal 2012 — up $2.7 billion from fiscal 2011.

According to the Monthly Treasury Statement by the U.S. Treasury Department, the government spent $77.6 billion on food stamps — formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — in fiscal 2011.

The government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2012. The Monthly Treasury Statement summarizes the receipts and outlays of the federal government.

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The SNAP program falls under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which also administers other food-assistance programs under the auspices of the Food and Nutrition Service Agency.

In total, $105.9 billion was spent on food assistance in fiscal 2012, with $18.3 billion of it spent on “Child Nutrition Programs,” the Treasury document said.

Meanwhile, total federal spending on SNAP has risen each year during President Barack Obama’s first term in office.

In fiscal 2009, for instance, the government spent about $55.6 billion on food stamps, according to CNSNews.com.

The next fiscal year, SNAP spending rose to nearly $70.5 billion. Between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2012, SNAP’s budget jumped by approximately $24.8 billion, CNS reports.

An April 2012 report from the Congressional Budget Office said that SNAP payments rose by $42 billion between 2007 and 2011 — and the number of SNAP participants increased by 70 percent.

The U.S. government posted a $1.089 trillion dollar deficit in fiscal 2012, down from nearly $1.3 trillion in fiscal 2011, CNS reports.

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