The number of federal food stamp applications in Orange County reached a five-year high of 14,261 in 2022, according to data from the County Department of Social Services.
During the past five years, the county’s food stamp applications have been on an upward trend, with the pandemic year of 2020 having the largest single-year bump, at 20 percent.
In 2021, the number of applications was 13,526.
The federal food stamp program, formerly called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP,) offers qualified low-income families with benefit cards to buy basic food at approved grocery stores.
Active county SNAP recipients have also been on the rise since the pandemic, reaching 16,649 in Nov. 2022….