New Yorkers who depend on food stamps can recoup some of their losses from Hurricane Irene.

The number of people who receive food stamps in Sonoma County continues to grow at a steady rate, yet less than half of residents eligible are enrolled.

More San Diegans are using food stamps to supplement their income.

DAYTON — Local counties are seeing dramatic increases in requests for public assistance programs such as food stamps and Medicaid , and the trend appears to be statewide.Nearly one-in-five Montgomery County residents was on Medicaid in 2010 and more than 82,000 households received food assistance. That is a 9 percent increase in food stamp cases since 2009.

Although the economy has been growing since mid-2009, the pace has been too slow to absorb the nearly 14 million people without jobs. Today, 46 million Americans receive the federal government’s help when buying food, which is roughly 15 percent of the population.

New numbers reveal one out of six Tennesseans are on food stamps. For many, the extra help they get from the government to put food on the table still isn’t enough.