Release No. 0181.00 Remarks As Prepared for Delivery by Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman at The National Nutrition Summit May 30, 2000 - Washington, DC "Thank you Secretary Shalala. Good morning. It's an honor to be here with Secretary Shalala, Ambassador McGovern and Senator Dole. I want to thank Secretary Shalala for her leadership and her passion. I'm proud of the work that USDA and HHS have been doing together over the years to meet the nutrition and health challenges we face. Both agencies are doing a terrific job. "Before I begin, I bring a message from a very special person who couldn't be here today. VIDEO TAPE MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT "Even when he's on tape, he's a tough act to follow but I'll do my best. "I know I speak for everyone in the Administration when I say how proud we all are to work for President Clinton and Vice President Gore who, for over seven years, have been committed to improving food security, nutrition and health for every American. "I want to welcome our two very special guests -- Ambassador George McGovern and Senator Robert Dole. They have been the guiding lights shepherding the many programs that make up the nation's nutrition safety net. Senator Dole and I are old friends and adversaries from Kansas so I can say first hand, he was there on the front lines. Ambassador McGovern's presence here today is a reminder that, although this is a national summit, the issues we'll be examining over the next two days resonate far beyond our borders. "Also with us today, and I'd like them to stand are members of the Girl Scouts of America along with their National Executive Director Marsha Evans. The Girl Scouts have made good health and nutrition a top priority. In fact they've designed a new badge with the -more- -2- food guide pyramid on it. I also want to say that good citizenship is also one of their priorities. They help out in many ways feeding the hungry and caring for the elderly. I want to thank them for setting an example for all Americans to follow. "I also want to take a moment to single out the folks whose vision and tenacity made this summit happen. A special thanks to the two co-chairs of the summit's steering committee, Eileen Kennedy, USDA's Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, and from HHS Paul Coates, NIH's Director of Dietary Supplements. I also want to mention others from USDA, Julie Paradis, Deputy Under Secretary for Food and Nutrition, Ed Cooney my Special Assistant for Nutrition and Rajen Anand, Director of the Center for Nutrition and Promotion who worked so hard with HHS on the dietary guidelines. "I also want to thank Shirley Watkins, Under Secretary for Food and Nutrition and Miley Gonzalez, Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics two champions of pushing the envelope, of challenging the status quo. They understood that, to move on to the next tier of nutrition, health and hunger challenges we have to lay a foundation for the future much the way our forerunners did with the first summit in 1969. "It is thanks to all of you in this room and your remarkable predecessors that we made so much progress since the original summit. Over the past three decades you have pushed the limits, expanded the notion of what government and society can and should do to ensure that every person in America has the basic necessities for adequate nutrition and health. We all know that the job is not done. Your achievements are truly remarkable and I think it would be very appropriate for you to give yourselves and each other a round of applause. You deserve it. "There are those from the leave-well-enough-alone camp who say our mission is accomplished, federal nutrition policy is doing fine as it is. "After all," they ask, "haven't we achieved what we set out to do in 1969?" "Well frankly the answer is -- somewhat. "Since 1969 we've made great advances in dealing with hunger and malnutrition. But we're not here today to look back, or to rest on our laurels. Rather, our purpose is to tackle that sense of complacency, to lay before the American people the contemporary issues and challenges in food insecurity, nutrition and health. We must raise awareness of the need to revitalize national nutrition policy and to infuse it with a greater sense of purpose. "Our task is twofold. First, we must look to the short-term and find ways to improve what we're already doing. "We need to communicate the information in the new dietary guidelines to the American people. We must make sure that people are made aware of the guidelines, understand what they mean, and know how to apply them to their lives. -more- -3- "These guidelines reflect the latest in scientific knowledge on nutrition and health. They recommend that all Americans use the food guide pyramid to make informed food choices; choosing a balanced diet that includes a variety of grains fruits and vegetables everyday. They also encourage all Americans to moderate how much saturated fat, cholesterol, total fat, sugars, salt and alcohol are in their diets. And for the first time, the guidelines recommend a steady dose of physical activity. "Just as the guidelines help people to make informed dietary choices, so too does nutrition labeling, which American consumers have whole-heartedly embraced. So today I'm proud to announce that very shortly USDA will issue standards for mandatory nutrition labels on packaged meat and poultry products. That means that when consumers buy hamburger or pork chops or chicken breasts they will be getting the same nutrition information calories, cholesterol and so on that they've come to rely on for processed foods. "We also need to make sure that the various federal nutrition programs are reaching the many millions of people who need them. For example, food stamps, the anchor of the nutrition safety net, helps 17 million people a year -- but there are still 10 million people who are eligible to participate in the program but do not. We need to make food stamps more readily available to these people. We should remove the barrier that disqualifies people for food stamps if they own a reliable car. We should allow law-abiding, tax-paying, legal immigrants the same eligibility requirements as that for citizens. We need to do better at informing those who need help that it's there for the asking. "This summer Under Secretary Shirley Watkins will be going on a seven city tour to hold a national conversation with everyone from nutritionists to retailers, from educators to farmers, from administrators to food stamp recipients to learn how we can make the program better, simpler, more accessible and more nutritious. "The second part of our task involves taking the long-range perspective providing a road map for future nutrition policy. "At the heart of any future policy has to be two issues which at first glance seem contradictory: hunger and obesity. On the one hand we have millions of people who sometimes don't even know where their next meal is coming from. On the other hand, as the President noted, 55% of the American people are overweight or obese, 1 in 5 of them children. These problems are in fact two sides of the same coin. For millions of families, when they don't have enough money to buy food, they go hungry. But, when they have only a little money, they tend to buy low-cost foods which may or may not have all the nutrients they need. So our challenge isn't only to ensure that people have enough food to eat, but that they have the resources and access to enough of the right foods. "What we've learned about obesity is an example of the unprecedented level of knowledge we've achieved about the relationship between diet and disease how what we eat can increase or decrease the risk of heart problems, diabetes, stroke, arthritis, cancer and other -more- -4- diseases. We've also seen how major changes in our lifestyles affect what and how much we eat and how much physical activity we get. Yet we can't seem to convert all that nutritional knowledge into changed behaviors. The fact is only 12% of the American people have a good diet. Why? Why do we keep reaching for those extra large orders of french fries when we know too much fat is a form of slow poison. It's like we know there's a red light in front of us, but we go through it anyway. But why? "To be perfectly frank, I'd like to know the answers myself. Let's face it, I'm coming to you from the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do camp. I'd like to know why I sometimes choose the high-fat donut over the no-fat bagel, or why I go back for those extra helpings even though I'm really not hungry anymore. We need to be candid about the challenges each individual faces. "To find answers to these and other vexing questions, today I'm announcing the USDA Behavioral Nutrition Initiative. This initiative will use USDA's extensive research capabilities to help find out why people make the food and exercise choices they do. And equally as important, it will explore how we can take what we learn and use it to get people to make new choices for a healthier lifestyle. Through a comprehensive program beginning this summer involving USDA's Human Nutrition Research Centers, the Economic Research Service, our extension program and our own staff researchers, we will examine everything from the influences of income on food choices, to barriers to behavioral change, to developing foods with certain health characteristics. "We cannot be afraid to be creative and enter uncharted territories. For example our ability to educate our kids is on everybody's minds these days. Many people don't realize that some of the important education and school discipline issues can, in part, be addressed by ensuring that each child is well-fed and ready to learn each and every day. A few weeks ago I announced the start of a School Breakfast pilot program in six school districts to test the effects of universal breakfasts on kids' ability to learn throughout the day a program I would like to see made available in all schools. "Also, we should not limit the goals of existing nutrition programs. So let's look beyond merely delivering food through our nutrition programs, but also knowledge about food and exercise and what it means to overall health. Arming kids with nutritional knowledge is critical because habits learned early in life generally last a lifetime. "We also need to develop a better understanding of what resonates with the public and provide people with the answers they seek. In February, USDA hosted a Great Nutrition Debate, which featured some of the popular diet doctors. We wanted to examine why, when the body of scientific evidence is so weighted in the direction of a balanced diet and physical exercise, are so many Americans making food choices based on theories, myths and inadequate research? "I wasn't as surprised as I was intrigued by the level of interest generated by the debate. People want to do something about being overweight, and from what I've seen, they're willing to try just about anything. Why these weight-loss diets remain so popular remains a source of extreme curiosity. -more- -5- "I suspect that one reason is the paucity of reliable scientific research available on the various diets. There doesn't seem to be enough comprehensive information specific to these diets to counter the claims made by their promoters. If there was any consensus coming out of the Great Nutrition Debate, it's that we need more answers. "That's why USDA, through our Human Nutrition Research Centers, is embarking on a coordinated research program to examine the effects of popular weight-loss diets. We will summarize existing scientific literature and conduct a series of studies on the health and nutrition effects of the various types of popular diets. "But perhaps the most vexing long-term challenge is one that has been with us for centuries simply making sure everyone has enough nutritious food on the table. We live in the most prosperous, most agriculturally abundant nation on earth and, thanks to President Clinton and Vice President Gore, we are enjoying the greatest economic prosperity in history. Yet many Americans continue to be plagued by a new kind of hunger. It is a more subtle kind that doesn't generate powerful visual images. I'm talking about the child that is put to bed early on an empty stomach because there's no food in the house; or the struggles of the working poor good decent folks who work hard, even sometimes at two jobs, but still can't meet the basic nutritional needs of their families. I'm talking about the people who have to choose between a roof over their heads or food on the table. "Our federal nutrition programs are at the core of combating this problem. But we're at a crossroads. We've learned that government cannot do it alone. That's why I want to see more communities step up to the plate and participate in USDA's Community Food Security Initiative and explore grass roots solutions to this problem. Making sure every one of their neighbors have enough nutritious food to eat should be a badge of pride for every community in America. I mean, wouldn't it be wonderful if, as you traveled across America, each time you entered a town or community, they had a sign boasting that you are now entering a food secure zone? "I know it might be blasphemous to say this, but I'd like to see a time where we don't need such a vast nutrition safety net -- where poverty isn't the determining factor in so many people's lives -- where every parent can provide the basic necessities for every family. That's why this Administration is working hard to help create opportunity for those who are somehow being left out of the current economic boom. "The charge of federal nutrition policy is not to solve the problem but to alleviate its symptoms. We need anti-hunger programs because we have hungry people. But, at the risk of sounding like an idealist, it doesn't have to be that way. As a nation we must continue to work toward eliminating the root cause of hunger - poverty -- and we shouldn't stop until we succeed. -more- -6- "Ever since I've been in public life right at the beginning when I was on the School Board in Wichita, through my years in Congress and now as Agriculture Secretary, fighting hunger has always been a priority for me. And I know all of you feel this way as well. Winston Churchill said, "A fanatic is someone who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." When it comes to ending hunger, I think it's probably safe to say that everyone in this room is a fanatic and proud of it. We can't let up. We've come a long way in 30 years, but we've still got a long way to go. Let's keep the foot on the pedal -- and floor it. Thank you." ###