Steep Growth in Number of Children on Food Stamps

An increasing number of Tennessee’s children are growing up in households where putting food on the table is a challenge. The latest Kids Count report shows it’s a problem that nearly doubled in less than a decade.

In 1999, 235-thousand children in the state relied on food stamps, or SNAP, as the program is now known. The figure was up to nearly 414-thousand by 2008.

Then the recession hit Tennessee in full force.

In 2009 the overall number of households relying on SNAP rose yet again by 25 percent.

Linda O’Neal directs the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, which compiled the state’s report.

“There’s a real concern regarding food insecurity, which means essentially children do not have enough to eat. They’re hungry, they’re not getting the nutrients they need to grow and develop successfully, and we have now more than one in every four children in Tennessee who lives in a family that receives food stamps.”

But while that figure shows a high degree of economic need, it also reflects a kind of success. According to the report, only three other states have done a better job than Tennessee when it comes to making sure that people who qualify for food assistance actually get it.