Alabama County Has Among Highest Food Stamp Usage

     Perry County is on the list of the top fifteen counties in America when it comes to residents receiving food stamps, according to a story about food stamps in The New York Times. An interactive map included with the story shows several other Alabama Black Belt counties also having high rates.

     According to the Times story, Perry County has 10,550 people receiving food stamps...41% of the population, a 7% increase over the past two years.

     Perry County has been in the news this year because hundreds of tons of coal ash from the TVA spill at the Kingston Power Plant in Tennessee is being carried by rail to a huge commercial landfill in Uniontown.

     Supporters of that project say it has provided employment, and fees paid by the landfill owners have helped offset proration of the Alabama Education Budget.

     Even the 41% figure for Perry County may be low. A recent study found Alabama providing food stamps to just 65% of the resident who are eligible. That put the state about mid-way on the list of states.