Romney Blasts Obama over Food Stamp Record

Sep 06, 2012

USDA Report Shows Food Stamps Reached Record High June 2012

U.S. President Barack Obama was under fire yesterday after Republican candidate Mitt Romney blamed him for the size of the national debt and the record number of American citizens who are on food stamps. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, assists low-income people in the U.S. to buy food. It’s a national program that falls under the U.S. Department of Agriculture mandate and it’s administered by each state and their local agencies.

Making reference to the U.S. Department of Agriculture report, Romney said "the other number's forty-seven. Forty-seven million now on food stamps. When he came to office there were 32 million. He's added 15 million people.” The new figure shows a shocking 15 per cent of Americans reliant on food stamps.

Obama on the defense said “people become eligible for food stamps. Second of all, the initial expansion of food-stamp eligibility happened under my Republican predecessor, not under me. No. 3, when you have a disastrous economic crash that results in 8 million people losing their jobs, more people are going to need more support from government,” Obama said in a ABC News interview.

Video: How Can We Grow More Food With Less Impact?

For over two decades, Dr. Mitloehner has been at the forefront of research on how animal agriculture affects our air and our climate. With deep expertise in emissions and volatile organic compounds, his work initially focused on air quality in regions like California’s Central Valley—home to both the nation’s richest agricultural output and some of its poorest air quality.

In recent years, methane has taken center stage in climate discourse—not just scientifically, but politically. Once a topic reserved for technical discussions about manure management and feed efficiency, it has become a flashpoint in debates over sustainability, regulation, and even the legitimacy of livestock farming itself.

Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Professor and Air Quality Specialist with the CLEAR Center sits down with Associate Director for Communications at the CLEAR Center, Joe Proudman.