A history of food stamps

1939-1943: People buy orange stamps equal to their normal food expenses; for every dollar of orange stamps purchased, they receive an extra 50 cents in blue stamps to purchase surplus food.

1961: President John F. Kennedy signs his first executive order to expand food distribution and announces on Feb. 2 that food stamp pilot programs will be initiated.

1964: The programs expanded from eight areas to 43, with 380,000 people in 22 states participating. President Lyndon Johnson requests that Congress pass legislation making the Food Stamp Program permanent and signs into law the Food Stamp Act of 1964.

1965-1971: The number of people receiving food stamps climbs past 561,000 in 1965, then beyond 1 million in 1966, 3 million in 1969 and 10 million in 1971.

1974: The Food Stamp Program begins operation nationwide July 1.

1988: Development of electronic benefit delivery systems begins, leading to issuance of plastic cards instead of paper food stamps.

2008: The total cost of the program exceeds $33 billion, up from from $2.8 billion three decades ago, and 27.7 million people participate as of February.

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture