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

DATE: SATURDAY, March 28, 1992                   TAG: 9203280015
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

25 MILLION GET FOOD STAMPS AS TOTAL REACHES NEW HIGH

A record 25 million Americans - nearly one in 10 - received food stamps in January, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

The pace of Americans who have turned to the government for help in buying groceries showed signs of slowing in January, when 100,000 more Americans enrolled in the program than in December.

Those added to the rolls had been increasing by 300,000 to 400,000 a month last fall.

USDA's latest figures showed 25 million Americans enrolled in the program, compared with 24.9 million in December and 22 million in January 1991.

In Virginia, 490,618 residents received food stamps, an increase of 25.7 percent over January 1991.

"Despite pronouncements by the administration, the rising number of Americans on food stamps shows that the recession is continuing and our country is suffering," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

by CNB