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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Rural Colorado Feels SNAP of Broken Economy

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Monday, August 11, 2014   

DENVER – Oftentimes, the issue of hunger is associated with people in inner cities, where the cost of living tends to be high.

But a new study shows some of the greatest need can be found where America's food supply is grown and raised.

Jon Bailey, director of rural public policy program for the Center for Rural Affairs, authored the report, which examines the use of food stamps, now called SNAP benefits, from 2008 to 2012.

"And what we found is that during that time period, more households in rural areas received SNAP benefits than did households in more urban – both metropolitan and small-city – areas," he says.

In that five-year period, the report says more than 14 percent of rural households received SNAP benefits, compared to slightly under 11 percent of urban households.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, last year the average monthly participation in SNAP was about a half-million people in Colorado.

Another key finding, says Bailey, is that rural areas and small cities have higher percentages of households with seniors and children receiving food support than in larger urban areas.

"SNAP is providing a way for those people and those households to meet their food needs, which is important,” he points out, “because those two population groups are probably most at risk of hunger and food insecurity."

In rural areas, one in nine households has a SNAP recipient who is either under age 18, or 60 years of age or older.

In Colorado, the average SNAP benefit per household is just over $137 a month.





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