Long winded and patronizing is no way to go though
Post# of 123789
You take a cheap shot at CA, not stopping to think that every State and city has some things that are bad about them.
Reflect on this, for some perspective.
SNAP – It Ain’t Just For Cities
https://www.fb.org/market-intel/snap-it-aint-just-for-cities
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly the Food Stamp Program) is the nation's largest domestic food and nutrition assistance program for low-income Americans. Program participants include women, children, the elderly, and military veterans and their families. SNAP offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities.
People have long associated SNAP recipients with urban communities, especially when it comes to farm bill negotiations and the historical partnership between farm policy and nutrition programs. However, data reveal that residents of rural communities depend on SNAP as much as, and potentially more than, their urban counterparts.
Each year, millions of low-income individuals and families receive nutrition assistance. USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service SNAP participation and costs data reveal that in 2016 the average monthly SNAP benefit per person, including costs of administering and monitoring the program, was approximately $160 per person, with the average individual receiving $125, Figure 1. During 2016, approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population received SNAP benefits.
SNAP participation has declined in recent years. In 2016, 44 million individuals received SNAP benefits totaling $71 billion dollars. These benefits were down $3 billion dollars from 2015, and down nearly $10 billion dollars from 2013.
Participation was also down 3.4 million individuals from the program-high of 47.6 million, set in 2013. The decline in SNAP spending is due in large part to stability in the U.S. economy and a low national unemployment rate. State mandates, like work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents, are also a factor.
Urban Versus Rural Benefits of SNAP
While a majority of the SNAP benefits are received in states with large populations, such as California, New York, Texas and Florida, as a percentage of the population receiving benefits many rural areas also rely very heavily on SNAP.
The Food Research and Action Center released a set of interactive maps and a meta-analysis examining participation rates related to SNAP. FRAC’s analysis shows that from 2011 to 2015 participation rates in SNAP in urban counties averaged 13 percent, while in small towns and rural counties both, the participation rate averaged 16 percent on a national basis, Figure 2.
This map doubles as an 'irony map', for very obvious voting pattern reasons. The Old Confederacy, still the site for 'the hunger games'. The obsessions with god, guns, gays, flags and fetuses do not fill hungry bellies.