Rural America on food stamps

People who live where most of America’s food is produced—rural areas—rely the most on food stamps, a new report finds.

To compile the report, Jon Bailey of the Center for Rural Affairs examined the use of food stamps, now called SNAP benefits, in the U.S. from 2008 to 2012, according to Public News Service. Bailey found that 14 percent of rural households received food benefits, compared to 11 percent of urban households.

The report also noted that, during the same time period, about 1 in 9 rural households included SNAP recipients who were younger than 18 or older than 60.

“SNAP is providing a way for those people and those households to meet their food needs, which is important,” said Bailey, “because those two population groups are probably most at risk of hunger and food insecurity.”