SNAP

Washington now spends that much more than it did a mere three years ago. But trying to figure out what we're getting for all that extra money is no simple matter. A lot of slicing and dicing does yield some answers -- none of which are very satisfying.

Pennsylvania is closely tied to alcohol. In the Revolutionary War, it supplied alcohol to the Continental army, and after independence, it became a mecca for distillers across the country. Now, some Keystone state microdistillers are returning to those roots, with some modern flourishes as well.

The Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as "lack of access to enough food to fully meet basic needs at all times due to lack of financial resources." Record food stamp enrollment over the last two years suggests that food insecurity has been getting worse.

Banning soda for food stamp users is a good idea. And I write as someone who has not once, but twice, been on food stamps myself. I write about food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), enough to know the usual rhetorical arguments used by the various concerned groups....

"More food stamps? Or more paychecks?" Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich suggests that's how the GOP should couch the national policy debate before the midterm elections. But will it work?

The diagnosis for many children in the U.S. is a doozy: obesity and poverty at once. The prognosis is dim, as many children don't even recognize a potato in its skin, and can't identify a kiwi fruit. The prescription is novel: go to the farmer's market, and here, take this coupon. The problem many...

This recession may have blown away forever the preconception that food stamps are used only by the chronically indigent. As of March 2010, more than 40 million Americans received help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the new name for the food stamp program. Many of these...

Is the recent upsurge in college-educated individuals applying for food stamps a social trend, the way the recently popular Salon.com article, "Hipsters on Food Stamps" supposes? Or is it a reflection of economic distress and the depressing job market? And how easy is it to actually qualify for...

Costco has started to accept food stamps at its warehouse clubs nationwide, which could be great for poor people looking for deals on food, or the worst decision in the history of buying groceries. Anyone who has been to a Costco store knows the enticements of impulse buys that you'd normally walk...

Not every WalletPop suggestion on how to save money is meant to help you save for a Caribbean cruise; many are lifelines to those of us struggling to even pay the rent and put food on the table. If you're among the more than one in 10 willing workers still looking for a job, or trying to keep your...