Increasing Need for Food Assistance

Food stamp use in R.I. tops 100,000, By Ted Nesi, July 8, 2009, Providence Business News: “The number of Rhode Islanders receiving food stamps was up 19.3 percent in April compared with a year earlier, topping 100,000 for the first time, according to new government figures…”
Lean times mean heavy food stamp increase, By Ivy Farguheson, July 6, 2009, Muncie Star Press: “Leslie Barnhouse hopes that one day she won’t need to receive food stamps, but today is not the day to make that break — for her or thousands of other aid recipients…”
Detroit’s food banks strain to serve middle class, By Alex P. Kellogg, July 10, 2009, Wall Street Journal: “Battered by massive layoffs, home foreclosures and nearly a decade of economic decline, more residents of Detroit’s middle-class suburbs are having a tough time putting food on the table. State agencies and nonprofit groups that serve the poor in southeast Michigan say they are seeing an unprecedented rise in demand for food assistance across the region. They point to a pronounced increase in those seeking aid for the first time, often families unaccustomed to depending on food-aid programs. And they expect the numbers to grow as Michigan’s jobs picture worsens…”