FOOD-STAMP RECORD SET AGAIN

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 29, 1992                   TAG: 9202290030
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
FOOD-STAMP RECORD SET AGAIN
The number of Americans receiving government help to buy groceries hit a new high in December, when nearly 25 million people got food stamps, according to Agriculture Department records released Friday.
It is the ninth time in 10 months that participation in the food-stamp program has set a record. Nearly one in 10 Americans is enrolled.
According to USDA's records, there were 24.85 million Americans on the food-stamp rolls in December 1991, compared to 24.47 million in November 1991 and 21.68 million in December 1990.
In Virginia, the number rose 17.69 percent, from 399,618 in December 1990 to 470,319 last year. The national average rise was 14.57 percent.
Florida, with a 42.6 percent increase, showed the sharpest jump from December 1990 to December 1991, when enrollment surged to 1.36 million people.
Rod Leonard, executive director of the Community Nutrition Institute, an anti-hunger advocacy group, said he believes the food stamp rolls will continue to grow and eventually could result in a participation rate of one in nine Americans.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB