April 7th, 2009

Reports the Philadelphia Inquirer:

…U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack [has] announced an increase in nutrition benefits for low-income families in Pennsylvania.

As of April 1, state recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will receive an additional $700 million in monthly benefits.

Philadelphians will collect $200 million of that total, part of President Obama’s Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Nationally, $20 billion will be released for the nutrition program.

The city’s $200 million will generate almost double that in total economic activity here, Vilsack said. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates, every $5 in new SNAP benefits funnels $9.20 to local businesses.

…

With 63 percent of the country’s adults and 35 percent of its children overweight or at the risk of being overweight, eating healthier will lower health-care costs, he said.

Read more at the Inquirer.