"We have the staple items like milk, bread, eggs, bananas, orange juice, all that kind of stuff," says Dan Harriman.

And those items carried here at a Kwik Trip in Eau Claire all qualify for the food stamp program.

"We get anywhere from it could be about 20 transactions a day to about 80 transactions a day," he says.

Harriman says that's a big increase in the past six months.

Across town at Gordy’s County Market, they've seen more of the same.

“Food stamps is probably up 20 percent over a year ago. The WIC is actually up about 10 percent over a year ago,” says Ron Lidell, manager of the store.

While the need is increasing, the number of places accepting food assistance has also increased.
Target recently started taking food stamps for staple items.

To help out single moms and children, the products covered by the WIC have been expanded in the past week at many local grocery stores.

"You'll see tickets by the specific 100 percent wheat breads, buns, rolls, those types of things, some weight watchers products,” lists Lidell. “And there's produce too that's going to be rolled out here soon."

Paying for groceries with a food assistance program at any grocery store or convenience store is no different than using a debit card, and store managers say the anonymity of using the electronic benefit transfer cards helps the customers overcome the stigma of getting help.

"You just swipe it all the till and it just prints right out like any other transaction," says Harriman.

Even though nowadays, they're not as alone in their need.

The U.S. Department of Human Services says the average amount of food stamp compensation per family nationwide is about 295 dollars a month.

Some extra help could be on the way: The U.S. Senate approved a bill yesterday that would expand the national food stamp assistance program by 61 billion dollars.