CHENANGO COUNTY – More than 16 percent of Chenango County residents rely on the federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formally known as Food Stamps), according to recent data from Chenango County Department of Social Services and the United States Census Bureau.

Of the 62 counties in New York State, Chenango County ranks fifth in percentage of Food Stamp recipients, with 16.6 percent of its residents receiving supplemental nutrition support - an alarmingly high statistic that has county officials contemplating viable resolves that might hopefully lower that statistic in the future.

According to a year-to-year comparison issued by the Department of Social Services, Chenango’s status of Food Stamp recipients is slightly fewer than Chemung County (17.3 percent); Fulton County (17.3 percent); Oneida County (17.3 percent); Montgomery County (18.9 percent); and Chatauqua County (19.2 percent).

Bette Osborne, commissioner for Chenango County Department of Social Services, outlined trends of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the 2012 DSS annual report, which was presented to the county Health and Human Services Committee in March. According to the report, the number of SNAP recipients reported by Chenango County DSS has steadily increased since 2008, when only 5,891 county residents qualified for Food Stamp assistance.

SNAP recipients has since climbed to 7,763 by the end of 2012, despite the decline of the county population, which has dropped by more than 1,000 people over the last five years, according to the US Census Bureau.