Fuelled by growing unemployment and food prices, the number of Americans who live on food stamps is set to exceed three crore for the first time this month, surpassing the historic high set in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.

"We will soon have the most food stamps recipients in the history of our country," said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Centre, an anti-hunger policy group.

"If the economic forecasts come true, we're likely to see the most hunger we've seen since the 1981 recession and maybe since the 1960s, when these programmes were established," said Weill.

What's a food stamp?
To qualify for the food stamp programme, recipients must have an income less than $27,564 (Rs 1.10 lakh) for a family of four. Participants receive an electronic card that is used like an ATM card to buy food at most grocery stores and some markets. The maximum benefit for a household of four is $588 (Rs 28,000) a month.