"SNAP" news and stories

Food stamp users, prepare for some belt-tightening. Harkening back to Clinton-era welfare economics of 1996, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan has proposed a $6.2 trillion cut to annual federal deficits for the next decade. The proposal, which passed the House earlier this month and resumes legislation today as Senators return from Easter-Passover break, would have a major impact on nutritional assistance programs.

The Ryan budget plan looks to cut the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by 20 percent between 2012 to 2021 by capping the open-ended system with a block-grant -- either by capping eligibility or benefits, or both. This means benefits would not fluctuate with economic need. States would instead be allotted a max.

Last week the updated USDA food map was released, detailing our country's food environment by county -- who has better local food, more farmer's markets, better availability to grocery stores? What are people eating most per capita in each county? How much food assistance are we getting? And who goes out to restaurants more? It's all right here.

The updated tool is part of First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative to end childhood obesity, reports the Washington Post. And it's a treasure chest of information. According to the map, Oakland County, Michigan, had 983 fast food restaurants in 2009, and 1,042 in 2010. In 2009, Minnesota's Hennepin county had 15 farmers markets -- and by 2010, they had 39. Impressive. That's more than San Diego, which lost 7 percent of its farmers markets over the same time. Washington Post contributor Jennifer LaRue Huget spent an hour on the site and found some interesting facts about Montgomery County, Maryland, where she was born. Among other statistics, she discovered that in 2006, residents there consumed 230 pounds of produce per capita at home and 320 in prepared foods.

You can search by state or see the entire country lit up in color-coded categories. And the data is seemingly endless -- you can investigate anything from how far households are from the nearest grocery store to how many stores accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Lose a very investigative hour of your own at USDA.gov.

That infamous snap, crackle and pop that Rice Krispies make comes from air escaping from the tiny puffed grains of rice, according to a brief article posted yesterday on LiveScience.com. When the rice grains are toasted at high temperatures, they expand, creating lots of little air-filled pockets. When the milk hits the cereal, it puts pressure on the puffed rice, thus forcing the air out. At least, that's the theory. Surprisingly, no one has ever actually funded a study. The cereal science buffs out there may also remember a post about why Cheerios floating in milk tend to cling to one another. LiveScience covered that one as well.