Have you ever played that game where one person says a single word and everyone else says the first thing that comes to mind?

Lets play. I get to go first. Readyyy…

FOOD STAMPS.

What are you thinking about? Do you imagine something similar to a postage stamp, but that has a picture of a banana on it? Maybe some kind of paper coupons that come in different colors, just like Monopoly Money, which you can trade in at the grocery store?

Earlier this year, a friend and I were both looking at interning in New York City for the summer. Gazing, wide-eyed and dismayed from our pitiful intern stipends to the rental price of even a hole-in-the-wall apartment in the City, we came up with a grand plan: food stamps. Food stamps is how we would afford our New York rent and still be able to eat a jumbo-slice pizza every day on the way home from work.

Turns out, the failure of our grand plan showed just how little we actually knew about food stamps.

45.7 million Americans know exactly what food stamps are.

New data released from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) shows that the number of Americans qualifying for and receiving food stamps has grown from 26 million to nearly 46 million in the last five years. This means that for every seven people you pass on the street every day, at least one of those people is on food stamps.

In May of 2011, food stamps cost the government $6.1 Billion dollars in just one month. Over the last 6 months in 2011, total payments for food stamps were over $29.8 Billion.

This may not seems like much as the government spends something close to $47 Billion per month on Medicare, but as we all know from the recently heated battle in Congress over raising the debt ceiling, government budgets are tight and getting tighter. Although the SNAP program avoided any immediate cuts in the budget deal that was just signed, food stamps still could be on the chopping block for future cuts by the Congressional Special Committee.

With minimal administration costs, 97% of benefits redeemed within the month, and USDA estimates that for every $1 dollar spent on food stamps there is a resulting $1.78 dollar boost to the economy, SNAP spending could be considered the most effective and efficient government entitlement program.

Government programs are on a collision course. Increased enrollment combined with budget cuts across the board means that everyone is going to be asking for more money and receiving less. Looks like a great many people are going to be learning a lot about food stamps in the near future.

(And for the record, food stamps do not look like Monopoly Money and they are not able to purchase jumbo-slice pizzas.)