Harvest Celebration Release No. 0492.98 Remarks of Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman Harvest Celebration Washington, D.c. -- Nov. 24, 1998 "Thank you Lynne (Brantley, Capitol Area Food Bank) Good morning everyone. Thank you for coming. This is an important day for USDA. I want to thank some of our friends in the Administration who've stopped by to share it with us: Commerce Secretary Bill Daley; Labor Secretary Alexis Herman; Administrator Carol Browner of the Environmental Protection Agency; Administrator David Barram of the General Services Administration; Kay Goss, Associate Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Tom Carter, the head of the Department of Defense Food Policy Council. I also want to welcome representatives from organizations that do battle with hunger Second Harvest, Food Chain, the Society of St. Andrew, Gifts-In-Kind International, the Congressional Hunger Center and the Washington Area Gleaning Network. I also want to recognize a special guest, the woman who got me gleaning in the first place, my wife Rhoda. "I'd ask that you join me in giving a hand to all of these folks. They are here not just because they care about hunger, but because they represent federal agencies that are doing something about it whether it's the Department of Transportation helping us move excess food to folks who need it; or the Department of Defense working with USDA and the General Services Administration donating $8 million worth of canned food; or DOD commissaries, working with FEMA and USDA to increase their donations of surplus food by 300 percent to 2.6 million pounds in 1998; or a letter co-signed by Secretary of Education Richard Riley and myself, which will be sent to the Nation's universities and colleges encouraging them to donate excess food from their cafeterias and devote more work-study slots to fighting hunger. "Every single person here today represents a part of the federal government that is taking the war on hunger personally, realizing that it is not just up to USDA, that it is not just up to charitable organizations, that each of us no matter what we do has a role to play. "This week, families across the country will gather at the dinner table and give thanks for all the abundance that we often take for granted in this country. I'm not ashamed to say that Thanksgiving is among my favorite holidays. I always say that my training for this job started at a young age at my mother's table with her telling me to 'eat, eat, eat.' Today is not about giving people a guilt trip. We should be proud that this is the most agriculturally abundant nation on earth. America has never known famine, and that makes us a rare exception around the world. "But amid this abundance, we must recognize that hunger is an enemy that has never known defeat. No nation on earth including the United States of America has defeated hunger. But looking around this room today, and thinking about all the forces that are coming together to wage this war against hunger in government and in communities across this country I know that one day we will be able to turn to the world and say, 'Yes, it can be done.' "We start by fighting for a strong federal safety net. That's our first and strongest line of defense. And, that's why I was so proud to stand with President Clinton when he signed legislation restoring food stamp benefits for our most vulnerable legal immigrants. But everyone in this room knows that federal programs alone are not enough. "That is why gleaning is so important. It gives everyone the means to make a difference: if you can drive a car; if you can sort food; if you can pick up a phone and call a grocery store or restaurant; if you can spend a day in a farmer's field, then you can lend a hand against hunger. "The Bible teaches us, 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap the corners of your field, and do not glean the fallen ears of your crop. Nor may you strip your vineyard bare, nor gather the overlooked grapes; you must leave them for the poor and the stranger.' "Whether it's gleaning on farms, food drives at work, recovering food from restaurants, getting food to hungry families, working with anti-hunger organizations or helping to build community gardens, each of us has a role to play fighting hunger. Each of us has a duty to the poor and to the stranger. "Everyone here knows that I'm passionate about fighting hunger and recovering more of the 96 billion pounds of food that goes to waste in this country each year. I can't help but see all the untapped potential. Everywhere I go -- restaurants, farms, conferences -- I push, I cajole, I nag. Some folks call me 'Mr. Glean.' I finally got the hint that things might have gotten a bit out of hand when I opened up the Washington Post to a picture of me at a Congressional hearing. The caption read: 'He'd rather be gleaning.' "So to every USDA employee that participated in this food drive the fruits of which you see in front of you today and every USDA employee across the country who is working with grass roots anti-hunger efforts thank you. I can't think of a more meaningful holiday gift than the effort you have given to help the hungry in 1998. "Thanks to your efforts, more than 3.6 million pounds of excess food will get to families who need it a whole lot more than a dumpster. That effort was capped by a month-long, nationwide USDA food drive. I'd like to ask Alma Hobbs, Joyce Willis and the Food Drive Coordinators and team members to stand so we can thank them all for their hard work. "I also want to thank today's award recipients. And, I want to thank Joel Berg and Kate Mehr for their work day on all of USDA's food recovery efforts. And, though she's in Memphis today reviewing a school gleaning program, I want to recognize Under Secretary Shirley Watkins' contributions, as well. "I am proud of everyone's efforts. But I am especially proud of the explosion of USDA gleaning projects across the country that take advantage of grass-roots commitment and ingenuity. "At our Beltsville research center, folks gleaned 39 tons of fresh produce this fall. Other centers came up with 18 tons of citrus, corn and other vegetables and 10,000 eggs. That's a lot of eggs. "At last year's Food Recovery Summit, I asked USDA's Farm Service Agency to begin on-farm gleaning efforts in 13 states. Well, they gleaned 2 million pounds in 29 states. "In Kentucky, our folks got together with local farmers to glean wheat which they turned into flour and exchanged for ready-mix bread. In Washington state, our campaign led to gleaning efforts at farmers markets. And, when a warehouse dedicated to feeding the hungry needed a forklift, FSA hunted a surplus one down for $800 instead of the usual $9,000. "In New Mexico, the Navajo Agriculture Products Industry farm wanted to donate 50,000 pounds of potatoes, problem was: they couldn't move it. Our FSA folks scrambled around, found a truck, and got all 50,000 pounds delivered to the St. Felix Pantry in Albuquerque. And, it wasn't a one-shot deal. Now, there's a regular delivery schedule from that farm to that pantry. "With us today from the Kentucky effort are Hoppy Henton and Tom Howard. And, from Washington we have Larry Albine and Scott Hallet, and from New Mexico Larry Burnett and Lloyd Wilhelm. "In almost every state I've visited this year, I heard about our efforts to help glean everything from peas to watermelons, sweet corn to sweet potatoes. I want to thank FSA's gleaning coordinator Susan Rourke King and all of our state and county employees for some truly outstanding work. "So to all the USDA employees, to our partners in government and out, thank you for your commitment. You have given me something to be truly thankful for this holiday season, and I know that I share that gratitude with many, many families across the country. Thank you. ###