Evening star., 1939-09-24
Food Stamp Plan
Is Held a Success
In Rochester
Grocefs Watch Sales
Soar to $3.50, 900
Since May Is
By ROBERT LOTUS.

ROCHESTER, Sept. % (N.A.N.AD.
-Four months Of putting pounds on
welfare recipients and dollars in the
pockets of farmers and grocers finds
the experimental Federal food stamp
plan well on the road to success in
this city.
Delighted grocers have watched
their sales soar as some $500
worth of orange and blue food
stamps poured into their cash reg
listers since the inception of the plan
May l6. Relief clients, weary of
trying to stretch an all-too-meager
food budget. are no less pleased
over the plan which permits them
to I'LL their larders with foodstuffs
they once were forced to forego as
luxuries.
Harried welfare authorities hail
the Federal Surplus Commodities
Corp. food stamp plan as a move
that will pay the city dividends in
health by permitting undernour-
ished persons on relief to obtain an
augmented diet which the already
overstrained welfare budget is un-
able to provide.
Even the most outspoken critics of
Rooseveltian policies in this tradi-
tionally Republican stronghold give
grudging praise to the Federal food
stamp plan.
How Plan Works.
The plan, designed to aid farmers
In unloading surplus produce, dairy
products and egg supplies and at
the same time provide relief clients
with a more varied and nutritious
diet, works like this:
After being certified by any Of the
city's welfare agencies as eligible to
purchase food stamps, relief recipi-
ent shows his credentials at the
Federal food stamp offices in the
Federal Building.
He is then permitted to purchase
q book of orange food stamps, which
are sold In lots of 81. "a, $6, So and
$40 denominations. With the pur-
chase he obtains free half the value
Of his orange stamps in blue stamps.
For example, a relief client who
buys a $40 book of orange stamps
will receive an additional IS in blue
stamps.
With the orange stamps he may
90 to any grocery store and buy any
kind of food he wishes, while his
purchases with the blue stamps are
limited to surplus farm products
listed by the Federal Surplus Com
modities Corp.
13 Commodities on List.
At present 13 commodities come
under the Government surplus
listing. They are eggs. butter. rice,
corn meal, dried prunes, dried beans,
cabbage, fresh tomatoes, peaches,
pears, peas, onions and flour white
and whole wheaD. The list, Of
course, varies, depending on seasonal
surpluses of foodstuffs.
Success of the food stamp plan is
shown in figures compiled by the
Food Stamp Plan Bureau, under
the direction of John A. McAuliffe.
During the first two-Week period,
from May 16 to 81, 5,7l1 reliefers
out Of an estimated 10000 families
on relief in Rochester bought $45 800
In orange stamps. For the two
week period ending September IA
over $76,140 worth of orange stamps
was sold to an estimated 5000 fami-
lies.
Sales of the stamps have increased
steadily since the plan went into
effect and are expected to show even
sharper gains with the announce
ment that orange stamps will be
made available to w. p. A. workers
here.
1t is expected that majority of
Rochester's $500 w. P. A. workers
will take advantage of the orange
stamp sales in view of the reduc-
ton in their incomes by the w. P. A.
salary slashes that went into effect
September l.
Blue Stamp Purchases.
Figures of the first month of the
1ood stamp plan revealed that blue
stamps were used to purchase la, 900
pounds Of butter, 5000 dozen of
eggs, $4,000 pounds of white and
graham flour, $1,000 pounds of
prunes, $500 boxes of oranges and
1000 boxes of grapefruit.
The blue stamps, for which Uncle
Sam foots the bill, netted Rochester
erocers close to 100000 worth of
business during the plans four
months of operation. This repre-
sented 100000 which relief clients
would not have had to spend If they
had not received the free blue
stamps.
A Government survey indicated
that sales Of groceries in low w-income
neighborhoods were up per cent