Growth in food assistance began well before the Great Recession, and was driven by a poor economy

Under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the US government provides food assistance to those who need it. While the SNAP caseload increased markedly following the great recession, Caroline Danielson writes that this was actually a continuation of a trend which had begun in 2000. She argues that worsening local and state economies contributed to the increases in SNAP take-up that we have seen in the past 16 years, and that as the economy strengthens, the number of SNAP recipients should fall.