Statement: “In the past two years, we saw an unprecedented increase of almost 70 percent” in food stamp recipients, Nick Macchione, director of the county Health and Human Services Agency, said at a March 15 county supervisors meeting.
Analysis: For three years, San Diego County has ranked last in the country for enrolling people in a program that provides food stamps to the poor. It enrolled eligible residents less often in 2006, 2007 and 2008 than every other urban area surveyed by the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group. The county left millions in federal funding on the table and poor people outside the government’s safety net.
Fact Check: Food Stamps Participation Jumps
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