Food Stamps in Hunterdon County

You may have heard a somewhat alarming story this week, about how Hunterdon County in the western part of New Jersey, which is the richest county in our state, showed the biggest increase in food-stamp usage between 2007 and 2010 of any county in America. And it's technically true: Over those four years, the number of people using food stamps in Hunterdon County grew by more than 500 percent. 

But that's mostly because the numbers were growing from such a small starting point. In 2007, there were only 232 food-stamp cases in the county; now that number is over 1400. Since the population of the county is around 128,000, the number of people on food stamps in Hunterdon County is around 1.1 percent. 

This issue isn't confined to New Jersey. According to the Census Bureau, the percentage of households using food stamps has doubled in six of the nation's ten wealthiest counties. But keep in mind that these counties had a handful of people on food stamps a few years ago, meaning it was much easier to show a large percentage increase. While the trend might be a cause for concern, it's worth keeping in mind that the math behind it is a little fuzzy.