More food-stamp shoppers at farmers markets
Food stamp recipients spent $18.8 million of their benefits at farmers markets, roadside stands and in direct purchases from growers, six times larger than redemptions in 2008, said the USDA.
States, tribes will test ways to reduce rural child hunger
Five pilot projects will test ways to reduce child hunger in rural America, with approaches that range from home delivery of food to providing three school meals a day, says the Agriculture Department. The USDA awarded $27 million in grants for the demonstration projects in Virginia, Kentucky and Nevada, and the Chickasaw and Navajo nations, from money provided in the 2010 child-nutrition law.
Cost of raising a child – $37 a day for 18 years
A middle-income family will spend an average $37 a day to raise a child from birth to age 18, according to government figures on food, housing, health care, child care, education and other expenses.