SNAP by the numbers

65 million Americans, about 1 in 5, have incomes low enough to qualify for SNAP.

46 million Americans receive food assistance through SNAP.

23.5 million Americans live in food deserts, poor neighborhoods like East Biloxi where the nearest grocery store is more than a mile away.

303,000 in Mississippi receive SNAP.

21.74 percent of Mississippians receive food stamps, the second highest rate in the nation after Washington, D.C.

44 percent of Mississippi SNAP recipients were in deep poverty in 2013.

293,000 Mississippi children, 52,000 elderly adults and 58,000 non-elderly adults with a disability benefit from SNAP.

$731 is the average gross monthly income of SNAP recipients.

$125.35 per person is the average SNAP benefit.

$28.6 billion in food stamp benefits in 2005 rose to $74.6 billion in 2014.

$11.3 billion is spent on the national school lunch program each year.

$7.1 billion is spent for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

-- The White House, USDA, Mother Jones

This story was originally published December 28, 2015 at 9:00 PM with the headline "SNAP by the numbers ."