Tech & Biz

Food stamp use grows in Tennessee

by Barbara Mathieson | June 27, 2009 at 04:46 am

135 views | 18 Recommendations | 2 comments

This is horrible news. I checked into food stamps for us. We will not qualify as long as we have savings or more than $2000 in retirement accounts. This means that if we do not find full employment, we will exhaust our retirement money to live.

Wealthy Williamson County sees 41% increase in families seeking aid

By Janell Ross • THE TENNESSEAN • June 27, 2009

More Tennesseans who never considered it before are turning to the federal food stamp program to feed their families, some of them in the state's wealthiest county.

Between May 2008 and May 2009, Tennessee overall saw a 21.6 percent increase in the number of households seeking assistance with food. Williamson County, which has the state's highest median income, saw that number grow 41 percent to 6,369 in May.

"The economy has worsened, and we are certainly seeing a lot of brand-new recipients, but what we are also experiencing is an influx in eligible families that just have not turned to us in the past," said Richard Dobbs, director of food stamp policy with the Tennessee Department of Human Services.