Q: As a follow up a recent answer, which states receive the most food stamp support as a percentage? Being a native Californian, I think that state’s percentage would be about 10 percent of the population. But if Georgia has 9 million people, that is really almost 25 percent.
—Thomas E. Davies, Atlanta
A: Mississippi, at 22 percent (659,872 out of a population of 2.9 million), was the state with the largest part of its population receiving food stamps, according to data from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and U.S. Census Bureau prior to recent cuts to the program. The top seven includes: Oregon (21 percent, 815,221 out of 3.9 million), New Mexico (21 percent, 438,252 out of 2.1 million), Louisiana (21 percent, 948,758 out of 4.6 million), Tennessee (20 percent, 1.3 million out of 6.4 million), Kentucky (20 percent, 849,248 out of 4.3 million) and Georgia (19 percent, 1.9 million out of 9.9 million). California was at 11 percent, or 4.1 million out of 38 million. A reduction in food stamp benefits – the largest since Congress passed the Food Stamps Act in 1964, according to The New York Times — took effect Nov. 1.
Q: What was the cost of first-class passage on the Titanic?
—Charles Watson, Decatur
A: A first-class ticket on the RMS Titanic cost $4,350, which is the equivalent of about $103,000 in today's economy, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index inflation calculator. The Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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