|
HavenWorks.com/food - Food News |
 |
|
|
- 
FOOD News. Vegetable News. Fruit News. Wine News. Grapes. Agriculture News. Animal News Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Nuts, Food Archives ~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
FOOD News:
 Child
-  Labor
-  Safety
-  Enforcement
-  Employers
-  Politics
- Food
-  Agriculture
-  Plants
-  Construction
-  People
-  Federal
-  Immigration
-  North
Carolina -  South
Carolina -  Iowa
"Child labor going largely unchecked." ... "Nery Castañeda tackled a job that was never intended for kids his age." ... "One afternoon last fall, the 17-year-old Guatemala native ran a machine to grind damaged pallets into mulch. When a co-worker at the Greensboro [North Carolina] plant returned from another task, he didn't see Nery – until he looked inside the shredder." ... "“A person shouldn't die like this,” said older brother Luis. “…He came with a dream and found death.”" ... "Decades after the enactment of regulations designed to prevent such tragedies, thousands of youths still get hurt on American jobs deemed unsafe for young workers. On a typical day, more than 400 juvenile workers are injured on the job. Once every 10 days, on average, a worker under the age of 18 is killed, federal statistics show." ... "Enforcement has waned, despite new evidence that many employers are ignoring child labor laws. U.S. [United States] Department of Labor investigations have dropped by nearly half since fiscal year 2000." ... "“There are lots of kids being asked to do work that's been prohibited for them – and it's been prohibited because it's dangerous,” said Carol Runyan, who heads UNC's Injury Prevention Research Center. “…Our system is failing them.”" ... "More than 3 million youths under age 18 have jobs. Regulations prohibit them from doing a variety of hazardous jobs, including most meat-processing work." ... "But last month, at an immigration raid at a House of Raeford Farms poultry plant in Greenville, S.C. [South Carolina], six juveniles were among the workers detained. Three young workers told the Observer they were under 18 when they held jobs at House of Raeford plants requiring them to make thousands of cuts a day with sharp knives. The company says it requires job applicants to present identification showing their age, but not all the documentation is accurate." ... "At Agriprocessors, a large meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, authorities recently charged owners with thousands of child-labor violations after finding that teenage employees were asked to use circular saws, clean floors with powerful chemicals and perform other dangerous tasks." ... "“The raids in Postville and Greenville show that 15- and 16-year-old kids are doing some of the most dangerous jobs in America,” says Reid Maki of the National Consumers League. “ … It's time for the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate slaughterhouses and poultry plants.”" ... "A study of 16- and 17-year-old construction workers in North Carolina, published in 2006, found that more than 80 percent did tasks that were clearly prohibited. A national survey of young retail and service workers, published in 2007, found that more than half of males and more than 40 percent of females performed prohibited tasks." ... "Runyan, who co-authored both studies, says much of the blame lies with employers." ... "“I suspect there are employers who flagrantly disregard the law,” she said. “And I suspect there are others who are clueless.”" ... "Total federal penalties for child labor violations dropped 29 percent from 2000 to 2007." -By Ames Alexander and Franco Ordonez -Observer 
Food
- Money
- Manufacturing
"On store shelves, stealthy shrinking of containers keeps prices from rising." ... "The only way to know you are buying less is to look at the weight on the label...." ... "Across the supermarket, manufacturers are trimming packages, nipping a half-ounce off that bar of soap, narrowing the width of toilet paper and shrinking the size of ice cream containers." ... "Often the changes are so subtle that they create "the illusion that you are buying the same amount," explained Frank Luby, a pricing consultant with Simon-Kucher & Partners of Cambridge, Mass." ... "Shoppers understand the manufacturers' dilemma but also say they feel deceived at times." ... ""What these companies don't realize is that their chronically deceptive marketing ploys tell us loud and clear that we absolutely cannot trust them for anything," Yukl said." ... "Other shoppers agree. "I think the whole thing is deceitful, and yes, it does irritate me, and I do feel they are tricking the consumer," said Bill Stone of Long Beach. "This practice, however, has been going on for many years and apparently the manufacturers feel it is to their advantage to try to slip these changes by the customer rather than announcing it."" -By Jerry Hirsch -LAtimes 
 Gordon
Smith -  Illegal
- Immigration
- Business
- Food
- Workers
- Politics
- Agriculture
-  Property
-  History
-  Oregon
-  Md
-  Hawaii
-  Utah
-  Wash
"Señor Smith: Low-wage Latino workers keep [Oregon Republican Senator] Sen. Gordon Smith’s family business humming. Not all of them are legal." ... "Up on a hill overlooking this Eastern Oregon town of 701 people, Smith Frozen Foods turns raw produce from the surrounding fields into ready-to-eat products." ... "Smith’s goods appear in grocery stores under other brand names. But in tiny Weston [Oregon], a water tank emblazoned with the capital letters S-M-I-T-H sits like a sentry greeting travelers on nearby Highway 11." ... "Gordon Smith, a United States senator from Oregon and the only Republican senator representing a West Coast state, has owned the plant his grandfather founded in 1919 for nearly 30 years." ... "“Son,” father Milan Smith once said, according to Gordon Smith’s 2006 memoir, “you can sell ice to Eskimos and coals to Newcastle.”" ... "Today, Smith Frozen Foods generates millions in income for the senator, according to Smith’s 2007 financial disclosure report." ... "And in this town, Smith’s wealth looms large, even though the 56-year-old lawmaker seldom visits and calls nearby Pendleton [Oregon] his home. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Smith is the 12th-richest member of the U.S. [United States] Senate, with an estimated net worth between $8 million and $39 million—wealth that’s allowed him to buy a $3.5 million mansion in Bethesda, Md. [Maryland], property on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, a Park City, Utah, condominium and—more famously—four antique golf clubs worth $1.25 million." ... "The workers at Smith Frozen Foods, who clean the machinery, monitor production and pack upward of 50 million pounds of produce each year, earn about $80 a day, four or five days a week, 10 months a year—if they’re lucky." ... "One other thing—some of them appear to be illegal immigrants." ... "WW recently spent several days in Weston, and the nearby cities of Milton-Freewater [Oregon] and Walla Walla, Wash. [Washington], where most of Smith’s employees live. WW spoke to dozens of current and former Smith workers, Latino advocates, court personnel, public defenders, educators, police administrators, church officials, social service agents and business owners and determined that some portion of Smith’s workforce comprises undocumented immigrants." ... "It’s a revelation that may not be newsworthy around Weston, where most people this reporter interviewed knew, or assumed, that the agricultural processing plant hired illegal immigrants." ... "Additional interviews and review of public records reveal that Smith’s company appears to have employed illegal immigrants for decades, stretching back as far as the 1980s." -By Beth Slovic -WWeek.com 
 Sarah
Palin - Money
- Politics
- Children
-  Travel
- Meals
-  Alaska
- 2008
Election
"Palin expensed her children's air travel to the state." ... "Since [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin took office nearly two years ago, the state of Alaska has routinely bought commercial airline tickets for her daughters when they travel with her, a practice that raises questions about the governor's claim to being a fiscal conservative." ... "Travel records from the governor's office show that the state has spent at least $31,800 on dozens of airline tickets for the family, and more for meals and hotels." ... "Records show the family has traveled with Palin for events such as the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Fairbanks [Alaska] last fall and to shoot official first family photos in Juneau [Alaska's capital], to draw raffle tickets at an event in Anchorage [Alaska] and to tour a teen center spearheaded by the Juneau Christian Center. " -By Kyle Hopkins -ADN.com via -McClatchyDC.com 
Sarah
Palin - Money- Politics
- Travel
- Food
-Family
-  Sports
-  Entertainment
- Alaska
-  New
York - 2008
Election
"Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home: Taxpayers Also Funded Family's Travel." ... "[2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of] Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business." ... "The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife." ... "Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official "duty station" is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post." ... "The governor's daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel, and many of the trips were between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show." ... "She wrote some form of "Lodging -- own residence" or "Lodging -- Wasilla residence" more than 30 times at the same time she took a per diem, according to the reports. In two dozen undated amendments to the reports, the governor deleted the reference to staying in her home but still charged the per diem." ... "Palin charged the state a per diem for working on Nov. 22, 2007 -- Thanksgiving Day. The reason given, according to the expense report, was the Great Alaska Shootout, an annual NCAA college basketball tournament held in Anchorage." ... "In separate filings, the state was billed about $25,000 for Palin's daughters' expenses and $19,000 for her husband's." ... "One event was in New York City in October 2007, when Bristol accompanied the governor to Newsweek's third annual Women and Leadership Conference, toured the New York Stock Exchange and met local officials and business executives. The state paid for three nights in a $707-a-day hotel room." ... "The family also charged for flights around the state, including trips to Alaska events such as the start of the Iditarod dog-sled race and the Iron Dog snowmobile race, a contest that Todd Palin won." (1, 2, 3) -By James V. Grimaldi and Karl Vick with contribution by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost |
|
Food News Sources: Food Sections: 
Search Food News: News Search <Food> in: <Food News> in: <Food Section> in:
Agriculture
ANIMALS |
Jim
Adkisson - 
Terrorism
- Politics
- 
Tennessee
- Church
- Gays
- Jobs
- Government
- Food
- Money
Jim
Adkisson - Political
- Terrorism
- Tennessee
- Out-of-Work- Homeless
- Food
- Gay
- Churchgoers
- 
Women's
- Rights
- Children
Food
- Safety
Food
- Safety
John
McCain - 
Carl
H Lindner Jr - Terrorism
- Money
- Illegal
- 
Military
- Politics
- Federal
- Investigation
- 
International
- Food
- 
Colombia
- 
US
- 
Arizona
- 
Ohio
- 2008
Election
Brazil
- 
Satellite
- Photographs
- Global
-
Climate
- 
Gases
- Food
- 
Animals
- Farming
- Illegal
- Business
John
McCain - 
Randy
Scheunemann - 
Charlie
Black - Money
- Politics
- Foreign
- 
Russia
- 
Macedonia
- 
Republic
of Georgia - 
Zaire
is the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Military
- Food- 
Indiana
- Arizona
- US
- 2008
Election - Law
- "Senior
Aide's Lobbying Efforts Highlight Challenge for McCain."
... "For a decade, [lobbyist] Randy Scheunemann has been a campaign staffer
to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, an ideological
ally in the fight to contain Russian power -- and a lobbyist seeking the
Arizona senator's support for former Soviet states." ... "The lobbying
group Mr. Scheunemann founded in 2001, Orion Strategies LLC [Limited Liability
Company], has earned $2.6 million from clients for whom Mr. Scheunemann
directly lobbied [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain and his staff, Justice Department
records show." ... "In March, as scrutiny intensified, Mr. Scheunemann,
who is the campaign's top foreign-policy staffer, sent a letter to the
Justice Department's office for foreign-client lobbying registrations saying
he had stopped working for clients such as Macedonia and [the Republic
of] Georgia. However, his company's contracts with those countries, worth
a combined $240,000, appear still to be in effect. A spokeswoman for the
Georgian Embassy in Washington said the country's contract with Orion is
active. The Macedonian contract is listed as active in Justice Department
records." ... "Charlie Black, a McCain campaign senior adviser, has represented
foreign leaders accused of corruption and human-rights abuses, such as
Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire [now the Democratic Republic of the Congo]. He
ended his relationship with BKSH & Associates Worldwide this year.
Outside advisers and fund-raisers for the campaign include Wayne Berman,
a registered lobbyist for an Indiana food-packaging company that sells
to the Department of Defense." -By Mary Jacoby
-WSJ.com
Consumers
- Food
- Safety
- Humans
- 
Health
- Law
- Politics
- Animals
- Agriculture
- Business
- 
Kan
- US
- 
Japan
- "Government
asks court to block wider testing for mad cow." ...
"The [Republican President] Bush administration on Friday urged a federal
appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad
cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has
that authority." ... "The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling
that allowed Arkansas City, Kan.[Kansas]-based Creekstone Farms Premium
Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas
customers in Japan and elsewhere." ... "Less than 1 percent of slaughtered
cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department
guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee
food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers."
... "Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can be fatal
to humans who eat tainted beef. Three cases of mad cow disease have been
discovered in the U.S. [United States] since 2003." -By
Sam Hananel -AP
via -SFGate.com
Agriculture
- Factory
- Companies
- Poor
- People
- Nutrition
- Health
- US
- 
- World
- 
Biofuel
- Air
- 
Soil
- 
Water
- 
Environment
- Animals
- Plants
- 
Science
- "Shortages
Threaten Farmers’ Key Tool: Fertilizer." ... "Some
kinds of fertilizer have nearly tripled in price in the last year, keeping
farmers from buying all they need. That is one of many factors contributing
to a rise in food prices that, according to the United Nations’ World Food
Program, threatens to push tens of millions of poor people into malnutrition."
... "Rising demand for food and biofuels prompted farmers everywhere to
plant more crops." ... "Fertilizer companies are confident the shortage
will be solved eventually, noting that they plan to build scores of new
factories. But that will probably create fresh problems in the long run
as the world grows more dependent on fossil fuels to produce chemical fertilizers."
... "The demand for fertilizer has been driven by a confluence of events,
including population growth, shrinking world grain stocks and the appetite
for corn and palm oil to make biofuel. But experts say the biggest factor
has been the growing demand for food, especially meat, in the developing
world." ... "Fertilizer is plant food, a combination of nutrients added
to soil to help plants grow. The three most important are nitrogen, phosphorus
and potassium. The latter two have long been available. But nitrogen in
a form that plants can absorb is scarce, and the lack of it led to low
crop yields for centuries." ... "That limitation ended in the early 20th
century with the invention of a procedure, now primarily fueled by natural
gas, that draws chemically inert nitrogen from the air and converts it
into a usable form." ... "Environmental groups fear increased use, particularly
of nitrogen fertilizer made using fossil fuels. Because plants do not absorb
all the nitrogen, much of it leaches into streams and groundwater. That
runoff has long been recognized as a major pollution problem, and it is
growing." ... "A barometer of the pollution is the rising number of dead
zones where rivers meet the sea. In the Gulf of Mexico, for instance, nitrogen
runoff from fields in the Corn Belt washes downstream and feeds plant life
in the gulf. The algae blooms suck oxygen from the water, killing other
marine life." (1, 2)
-By Keith
Bradsher and Andrew
Martin -NYTimes
Noteworthy
- Government
- EPA
- Opinion
- Science
- Politics
- Food
- 
Drug
- Oceanic
- Atmospheric
- Climate
- Health
- 
California
- Investigation
- "Hundreds
of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference Over Last Five Years:
UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists] calls for strengthened protections
for federal scientists." ... "An investigation of the Environmental Protection
Agency released today found that 889 of nearly 1,600 staff scientists reported
that they experienced political interference in their work over the last
five years. The study, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), follows
previous UCS investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, Fish and
Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and
climate scientists at seven federal agencies, which also found significant
administration manipulation of federal science." ... ""Our investigation
found an agency in crisis," said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific
Integrity Program. "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference
in their scientific work. That's 900 too many. Distorting science to accommodate
a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health, and our
democracy itself."" ... "The UCS report comes amidst a flurry of controversial
activity swirling around the EPA. Congress is currently investigating administration
interference in a new chemical toxicity review process as well as California's
request to regulate tailpipe emissions. And in early May, the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a hearing on political
interference in the new EPA ground-level ozone pollution standard." ...
"UCS's investigation revealed political interference is most pronounced
in offices where scientists write regulations and at the National Center
for Environmental Assessment, where scientists conduct risk assessments
that could lead to strengthened regulations." ... ""The investigation shows
researchers are generally continuing to do their work," said Dr. Grifo.
"But their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write
regulations."" ... "Nearly 100 scientists identified the [Republican President
Bush's] White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the primary
culprit." -UCSUSA.org
Global
- Planet
- Oil
- Food
- Agriculture
- 
Car
- Economy
- 
China
- "Running
Out of Planet to Exploit." ... "Last week, oil hit
$117." ... "Food prices have also soared, as have the prices of basic metals.
And the global surge in commodity prices is reviving a question we haven’t
heard much since the 1970s: Will limited supplies of natural resources
pose an obstacle to future world economic growth?" ... "How you answer
this question depends largely on what you believe is driving the rise in
resource prices. Broadly speaking, there are three competing views." ...
"The first is that it’s mainly speculation — that investors, looking for
high returns at a time of low interest rates, have piled into commodity
futures, driving up prices." ... "The second view is that soaring resource
prices do, in fact, have a basis in fundamentals — especially rapidly growing
demand from newly meat-eating, car-driving Chinese — but that given time
we’ll drill more wells, plant more acres, and increased supply will push
prices right back down again." ... "The third view is that the era of cheap
resources is over for good — that we’re running out of oil, running out
of land to expand food production and generally running out of planet to
exploit." ... "I find myself somewhere between the second and third views."
... "There are some very smart people — not least, George Soros — who believe
that we’re in a commodities bubble (although Mr. Soros says that the bubble
is still in its “growth phase”)." -By Paul
Krugman -NYTimes
- 
- 
Media
- Politics
- Corporate
- 
Network
- 2008
Election - 
-
- 
-
- Torture
-
- Human
Rights -
- Consumer
-
- 
- Safety
-
-
- 
- Death
Penalty - "Okay,
Now
I'm Bitter." [Mary Mapes on what
DISNEY/ABC didn't cover in the 2008 Election Democratic Presidential
Candidate debate in Pennsylvania with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama]
... "In Iraq, we've seen a rebound in suicide bombings and gotten the disquieting
information that Iraqi soldiers have been fleeing the battlefield in frightening
numbers." ... "Americans learned that detailed discussions of torture techniques
had been held in the [Republican President] White House -- our White House
-- and President Bush revealed that he knew this and approved." ... "[Home]
Foreclosure rates have spiked to frightening levels." ... "U.S. [United
States] shoppers were told that food prices in this country are rising
at a higher pace than at any time in the past 17 years." ... "The airline
industry floundered through dreadful days of groundings, amidst safety
concerns, economic ailments and passenger anger." ... "Oil prices are setting
new records almost every day and $4 a gallon gas is coming soon to a service
station near you." ... "The anguish over China's human rights record and
its handling of Tibet turned the Olympic torch relay into a cross between
Spain's Running of the Bulls and 3rd grade keep-away." ... "[2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain, acting like a mean old
man trying to chase those pesky voters off his lawn, refused to endorse
a new GI bill that would help those currently serving our country get a
college education." ... "The Supreme Court issued a fractured opinion on
the death penalty that for the first time in years raises the real possibility
of a national debate on the value and morality of the ultimate punishment."
... "And we are in the middle of what is clearly the most important, most
consequential election of my lifetime -- and I'm no spring chicken." ...
"Instead, I sat in front of my TV open-mouthed, listening to a hodgepodge
of juvenile questions about flag jewelry, the possibility of a "dream"
ticket, elderly radicals, Charlie Gibson's personal tax concerns and ministers
who emote too much. What, no time for a question about Cindy McCain's purloined
pork chop recipe?" -By Mary Mapes
-HuffingtonPost.com
Emergency
- Economy
- Politics
- 
Haiti
- 
Bangladesh
- 
Egypt
- United
States - World
- Poor
- People
- Historical
-
- Children
- Health
- Mind
- "Riots,
instability spread as food prices skyrocket." ...
"Riots from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic
foods have brought the issue to a boiling point and catapulted it to the
forefront of the world's attention, the head of an agency focused on global
development said Monday." ... ""This is the world's big story," said Jeffrey
Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute." ... ""The finance
ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend," he said on CNN's
"American Morning," in a reference to top economic officials who gathered
in Washington. "There are riots all over the world in the poor countries
... and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States.""
... "World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said the surging costs could
mean "seven lost years" in the fight against worldwide poverty." ... ""The
international community must fill the at least $500 million food gap identified
by the U.N.'s [United Nations] World Food Programme to meet emergency needs,"
he said. "Governments should be able to come up with this assistance and
come up with it now."" ... ""In just two months," Zoellick said in his
speech, "rice prices have skyrocketed to near historical levels, rising
by around 75 percent globally and more in some markets, with more likely
to come. In Bangladesh, a 2-kilogram bag of rice ... now consumes about
half of the daily income of a poor family."" ... "The price of wheat has
jumped 120 percent in the past year, he said -- meaning that the price
of a loaf of bread has more than doubled in places where the poor spend
as much as 75 percent of their income on food." ... ""This is not just
about meals forgone today or about increasing social unrest. This is about
lost learning potential for children and adults in the future, stunted
intellectual and physical growth," Zoellick said."
-CNN
Consumer
- Money
- History
- Poor
- Families
- Agriculture
- "Food
Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years." ... "The U.S.
[United States] is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years,
and analysts expect new data due on Wednesday to show it's getting worse.
That's putting the squeeze on poor families and forcing bakeries, bagel
shops and delis to explain price increases to their customers." ... "U.S.
food prices rose 4 percent in 2007, compared with an average 2.5 percent
annual rise for the last 15 years, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. And the agency says 2008 could be worse, with a rise of as
much as 4.5 percent." ... "Eggs cost 25 percent more in February than they
did a year ago, according to the USDA [United States Department of Agriculture].
Milk and other dairy products jumped 13 percent, chicken and other poultry
nearly 7 percent." -By Ellen Simon
-AP via -SFGate.com
Food
- Safety
- History
- "U.S.
Hasn't Put Lid on Food Poisonings: Nation's Food
Safety Not Improving, According to Latest CDC [Centers for Disease Control]
Report That Shows No Drop in Food Poisoning Cases." ... "Efforts to improve
U.S. [United States] food safety have not yet borne fruit, a new CDC report
shows." ... "The CDC's Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network,
called FoodNet, began tracking cases of food-borne illnesses in 1996 in
10 U.S. states. The idea is to track infection trends for the 10 most important
causes of food poisoning." ... "The 2007 FoodNet numbers are here." ...
"... [T]here has been no significant improvement since 2004. Compared with
2004-2006, there's been no real decline in cases of food-borne disease
caused by campylobacter, listeria, salmonella, shigella, E. coli,
vibrio, or yersinia bacteria." ... "Cases of infection with the waterborne
parasite cryptosporidium went up...[.]" ... "2007 was also a year in which
there were several widespread outbreaks of salmonella infection, including
outbreaks from contaminated peanut butter, frozen pot pies, puffed vegetable
snacks, and live pet turtles." -By Daniel J. DeNoon
-WebMD.com
Government
- Food
- People
- Families
- Poverty
- Disasters
- Fuel
- Prices
- Politics
- History
- "As
Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record."
... "Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices,
the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28
million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began
in the 1960s." ... "The number of recipients, who must have near-poverty
incomes to qualify for benefits averaging $100 a month per family member,
has fluctuated over the years along with economic conditions, eligibility
rules, enlistment drives and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina,
which led to a spike in the South." ... "But recent rises in many states
appear to be resulting mainly from the economic slowdown, officials and
experts say, as well as inflation in prices of basic goods that leave more
families feeling pinched. Citing expected growth in unemployment, the Congressional
Budget Office this month projected a continued increase in the monthly
number of recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1 — to 28 million,
up from 27.8 million in 2008, and 26.5 million in 2007." ... "The percentage
of Americans receiving food stamps was higher aft
