Now take a family of 10: with maximum monthly SNAP benefits of $1,421, the family receives a little more than $142 per person, or roughly $1.58 per person per meal.

Of course, comparing that directly to the surprisingly low $4.90-per-person estimated cost of the average Thanksgiving meal is enough to give any economist an ulcer. It's certainly not apples to apples (or, in this case, drumsticks to drumsticks). For starters, most families receiving SNAP benefits earn at least some additional income and don't rely entirely on those subsidies for all their food needs.

Pew Charitable Trusts — Click to view interactive map

However, it does underscore the reality that a growing number of Americans are now struggling to put a meal on the table, especially during the most food-centric of American holidays, typically the busiest time of the year for food banks across the country.

The number of people receiving food stamps is up about a million from last year, and more than double what it was a decade ago. Almost half of recipients are children, and about two-thirds of the adults are women.

Even so, many Republicans in Congress continue to push for deeper cuts to the SNAP program, which is authorized in the five-year omnibus farm bill that covers all agricultural programs. The SNAP program has expanded markedly over the past decade, prompting conservative critics to argue that it encourages dependence among those who don't necessarily need it, and is fiscally inefficient and prone to fraud. A House version of the new farm bill proposes program cuts of an additional $40 billion over 10 years. The Senate version would result in around $4 billion in cuts.

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Thanksgiving on Food Stamps, by the Numbers