Now this is a landmark number

From CNS News:

101M Get Food Aid from Federal Gov�t; Outnumber Full-Time Private Sector Workers
The number of Americans receiving subsidized food assistance from the federal government has risen to 101 million, representing roughly a third of the U.S. population.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that a total of 101,000,000 people currently participate in at least one of the 15 food programs offered by the agency, at a cost of $114 billion in fiscal year 2012.

That means the number of Americans receiving food assistance has surpassed the number of full-time private sector workers in the U.S.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 97,180,000 full-time private sector workers in 2012.

The population of the U.S. is 316.2 million people, meaning nearly a third of Americans receive food aid from the government.

If someone is honestly down on their luck and local groups (friends, church groups, local food banks, etc...) aren't taking care of them, then yes, there should be a safety net. That being said, the safety net needs to be temporary -- not something handed out like candy. It should last for six months and be a hassle to re-apply for. All we are doing with the current programs is raising a generation of low-information voters who expect entitlements.