November 16, 1983

Mexico has announced a new multibillion-dollar food plan aimed at achieving ''food sovereignty'' by 1988 and at improving the quality of food eaten by the country's badly nourished poor. The plan calls for $3.4 billion to be spent between now and 1988 on a reorganization of production and distribution, with the emphasis on providing more basic foods like corn, wheat, rice, and beans.

The plan says some 19 million Mexicans, mainly in the south and out of a population of 72 million, suffer from grave nutrituion deficiencies.