| As President Obama prepares to leave office, his legacy will include an increase in the number of Americans using food stamps. The number of food stamps recipients went up by 10.7 million people, a 32 percent jump, since President Obama took office in 2009, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). In 2009, 33,490,000 people received food stamp benefits. As of October 2016, the last month reported for FY 2016, 44,219,123 people received food stamp benefits, an increase of about 10,729,000. The U.S. population as of October 1, 2016 was 324,607,826, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. |
