Towns across the U.S. face a monthly boom and bust economic cycle that can be directly attributed to the delivery of foods purchasable by food stamps.
Across the country, $78 billion is spent annually on federal food assistance with 47 million Americans participating.
Every first of the month, towns go through their typical boom, as foods are delivered and bought by food stamp participants.
Although this helps feed many people, as the number of federal recipients of food stamps grows, a town's economy begins to rely solely on the federal food delivery cycle.
One Rhode Island town in particular, Woonsocket, is a perfect example of this food stamp economy, where on the first of every month, businesses throughout the town experience an economic boom. The town then recedes into an economic decline the rest of the month once all of the federal products are purchased.
SNAP enrollment has been climbing over the last six years in Rhode Island, with 180,000 people now registered in the program, which is up from 73,000 according to Yahoo! Of that, 13,752 people are located in Woonsocket.
On the night of Feb. 28, a day before the food delivery, a community bank displayed a message reading "Happy shopping! Enjoy the 1st," reports Yahoo! One bus company even warned travelers that there would be "heavy traffic" due to the delivery trucks taking over the streets.
Miguel Pichardo, 53, a grocery store owner, waited for the government food trucks, carrying $10,000 in food for his shelves. He will receive 3,000 pounds of meat in addition to rice, fruit juice, pizza pockets, ramen noodles, marinades and miscellaneous snacks.
"Today, we fill the store up with everything," he said. "Tomorrow, we sell it all."
He refers to it as "Unce Sam Day" and it certainly is as Woonsocket experiences a $2 million financial surplus from the SNAP program.
The money is first electronically transferred to people's cards, where it is then spent on groceries. After that, money is then trickled down to food companies, employees and banks.
In a town where the unemployment rate sits at 12 percent and median income is down $10,000, the first of the month is a welcomed day for many citizens before recession strikes again.