USDA Budget Would Rise 11% on Food-Stamp Spending
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U.S. Department of Agriculture spending would increase 11 percent to $144 billion in fiscal 2012 as the number of people receiving nutrition assistance reaches records and food-safety spending rises, the government said.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, will cost $85.2 billion in the year starting Oct. 1, up 15 percent from levels in 2010, the last time agencies had an enacted budget, according to the spending plan President Barack Obama sent to Congress today. A record 43.6 million people, more than one of every eight Americans, received food stamps in November, as the jobless rate stayed near a 27-year high, the USDA said earlier this month.