One in 11 isle residents now receive food stamps

The number of Hawaii residents receiving food stamps has jumped by 25 percent as more people seek help amid a deep recession. New state figures, reported on Aug. 26, show more than 23,000 additional residents enrolled in the state's food stamp program in the nine-month period ending in June, the largest increase the state has seen in the program in the past five years.

It means more than 120,000 people, roughly one in 11 Hawaii residents, were getting food stamps in June.

According to State officials, many of the new applicants were applying for food assistance for the first time, turning to the program after a lay off, pay cut or reduction in hours. Hawaii's increase comes as a record number of Americans receive food stamps.

Meanwhile, after several years of above-average food price inflation, a Purdue University economist believes the inflation rate will return to normal next year. Corinne Alexander, an agricultural economist, estimated 2010 food prices would increase between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent, not near the levels set in 2008 of 5.5 percent. The 10-year average for food-price inflation for 1997 to 2006 is about 2.5 percent, she said in a news release.

“One reason we're not seeing prices go up so much right now is we had a massive recession that caused people to cut back,” Alexander said, adding that in July, the cost of food purchased for the home decreased 0.9 percent over the same month last year, lower than usual and lower than the September 2008 peak of 7.6 percent.

Food purchased away from home, such as in restaurants, increased 3.2 percent in July from the same month last year. That was about average, and lower than the December 2008 high of 5 percent.

Several factors have been driving the decline in those inflationary numbers, Alexander said, such as significantly lower commodity prices, including a lower cost of fuel. The recession also slowed growth in developing countries, reducing the demand for meat and other food exports, she said, and that has increased the supply available in the United States, driving down prices.