USDA: Minn. got $80M in stimulus for food aid

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says stimulus funds have provided Minnesotans with nearly 80 million extra dollars in benefits under what used to be called the Food Stamp program.

The USDA says the federal stimulus package has put an extra $8 billion into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program nationwide over the past year.

More than 400,000 Minnesotans now get benefits from the SNAP program, up 32 percent from a year ago. About half of them are children. The stimulus money works out to an extra $80 a month for a family of four.

The USDA says SNAP provides a significant boost to local economies. It says that for every $5 in SNAP benefits, as much as $9.20 is generated in total economic activity.

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