A recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture examines the impact of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in rural America. Widely viewed as a program that helps combat urban poverty and food insecurity, SNAP has seen a greater percentage of utilization in rural areas since the late 1990s.
SNAP participation grew exponentially, quadrupling between 2001 and 2013. This growth coincided with the Great Recession and its aftermath. Participation peaked in 2013, when more than