Now that Minnesota’s unemployment rate has risen to 6.4 percent – which means there are at least 200,000 unemployed Minnesotans seeking work — the USDA Food and Nutrition Service has granted the state a waiver of time limits for food stamps, known as Food Support in Minnesota.

So effective Jan. 1 for calendar year 2009, many people who may have exhausted their food stamp benefits may now be eligible again and can reapply for help. The waiver also means other Minnesotans on food stamps will not lose their assistance because they cannot find work.

In additions, the advocacy group Hunger Solutions Minnesota is calling for Congress to pass an economic recovery package that includes bolstering Food Stamps benefits and other nutrition and low-income support programs. 

“A significant boost in Food Stamps is a fundamental building block of any fair and effective stimulus package,” said Colleen Moriarty, executive director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota “We can further strengthen the economic recovery because food stamps dollars are spent immediately and spent locally.”