Poverty grew in Mexico to nearly half the population, study finds, By Tracy Wilkinson, July 29, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Mexico received more bad economic news Friday with a report that shows poverty is steadily on the rise. The number of Mexicans living in poverty grew to 52 million in 2010, up by more than 3 million people from two years earlier, the report says. That means 46.2% of the population lives in poverty. Within that group, 11.7 million people live in extreme poverty, a figure that held steady over the same period. The report was produced by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy, an autonomous but federally financed agency, and represents the state’s most comprehensive study of poverty to date…”
Day: August 2, 2011
Restaurant Meals Program – California
State seeks to educate food-stamp recipients about fast food, By Ricardo Lopez, August 2, 2011, Los Angeles Times: “Anna Harrald likes to eat at Taco Bell because the hard-shell tacos are ‘nice and cheap and good.’ From KFC and El Pollo Loco, the chicken she stores in a friend’s refrigerator will feed her for days. The 46-year-old homeless woman, who sleeps by a canal along the 710 Freeway in Long Beach, is one of at least 141,000 people in Los Angeles County eligible to use their food stamps at local restaurants under a state program aimed at helping the elderly, homeless and handicapped get a meal. When California launched the Restaurant Meals Program in 2004, advocates hailed it as a solution to feeding those who don’t have the means or ability to prepare their own meals. But nearly 94% of participating restaurants in the state are fast-food establishments, and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are concerned that the program may be undermining the goal of promoting healthful eating…”