Release No. 0303.00

Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman
National Conference of America's Second Harvest
Tucson, Arizona -- September 8, 2000

Thank you for that kind introduction Glenn.

"I'm very honored to be here, especially since this is the last year of an Administration that has worked so closely with America's Second Harvest to achieve so much on behalf of America's neediest citizens.

"I want to thank Deborah Leff, for her visionary leadership in helping to expand efforts on community food security and advocating for such vital programs as Food Stamps.

"I want to salute Sister Christine Vladimiroff who did a really terrific job helping to build America's Second Harvest into the organization it is today, and I also want to thank her for volunteering to co-chair the Food Security Advisory Committee.

"Since this is the first conference since the merger, I want to add a special word of praise for Chris Martin for her vision in leading FoodChain's merger with America's Second Harvest. Both organizations have shown courage in coming together, making tough changes and building by far the largest domestic hunger relief organization in the country. Believe me, in Washington we have our share of turf battles, so perhaps we might learn a thing or two from your experience.

"And I also want to thank America's Second Harvest's Director of Public Policy and Research, Doug O'Brien and his dedicated staff for regularly keeping USDA's feet to the fire.

"I do want to take this opportunity to introduce two of my aides that are with me today. Ed Cooney, my Special Assistant for Nutrition, who has done an outstanding job helping to fortify America's nutrition safety net. And Joel Berg, my jack-of-all trades when it comes to hunger issues. In fact he recently went with me to Africa and is working on our new $300 million Global Food for Education initiative that Senator McGovern spoke to you about yesterday.

"But most of all, I want to thank you -- the people on the front lines in the battle against hunger. You understand hunger and food insecurity, not only as expressed in aggregate statistics, but on a personal level. You hear the stories, and see the children and seniors and working poor. And frankly I'm encouraged by the number of people here today, because it says to me that there are thousands more just like you who understand that everyone has a role to play in fighting hunger.

"The federal government is in the vanguard of that fight. We've learned over the years in a bipartisan way that what we do at the federal level makes a profound difference in people's lives.

"I'm reminded of a story about a religious girl who brings her fiancé home to meet her parents. After dinner the father and the young man have a private chat. The father asks, "So what are your plans." And the young man replies, "I am a biblical scholar."

"Admirable," says the father, "but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter?" And the young man says, "I will study and God will provide for us." "And how will you provide her a beautiful engagement ring?" "I will concentrate on my studies, and God will provide for us." "And how will you support the children?" "Don't worry sir," he says, "God will provide." The conversation proceeds like this and each time, "God will provide for us."

"Later the mother asks, "So, how did it go?" And the father says, "Good news and bad news. Bad news is that he has no job and no plans. Good news is he thinks I'm God."

"Now few of us have a rich father-in-law, but we do have an Uncle Sam. That's not to say the people who need our help don't work or are somehow undeserving. The fact is most people in need are the working poor, children and seniors. In fact typical recipients are working families and individuals who stay on the Food Stamp program less than 18 months.

"There are millions in poverty working hard to make ends meet, striving to achieve the American dream yet struggling to put food on the table. Many of them would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. And many seniors would benefit from having meaningful prescription drug coverage so they wouldn't have to choose between food and medicine. They are all part of the American family, and it is incumbent upon government to help the less fortunate members of our family. As Hubert Humphrey said, "The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."

"This Administration set out to streamline government and make it more effective, but without gutting programs that matter to people. And, with the help of like-minded organizations like America's Second Harvest, we not only stood our ground, we expanded and fortified the nutrition safety net, and strengthened the foundation from which to build.

"This was the first Administration in 20 years to submit and get passed its own Child Nutrition Reauthorization Bill which included after school snacks for Kids Cafes. We also established nutrition requirements that help ensure that meals served to our school children meet the Dietary Guidelines of Americans. We and others also fought hard to restore food stamps to legal immigrants. We initiated a pilot program to bring universal breakfasts to our schools, which I'm hoping we can expand into a full-fledged school breakfast program. And we continue to work toward the goal of a fully-funded Women, Infants and Children's program and expanding WIC participation among hard-to-reach women. Today I'm announcing $1.4 million in annual WIC special project grants to six states to help improve the quality of the program and develop local outreach efforts to get to the hardest to reach folks who can benefit from WIC.

"At USDA we took our commodity donations to a new level both in terms of quantity and quality. Since 1995, we have more than tripled the amount of bonus commodities that USDA has purchased for distribution to food banks and other organizations. Overall, this fiscal year, USDA will spend well over $200 million to purchase more than 200 million pounds of food for distribution. And in the Crop Insurance Bill that was passed last spring, there is $200 million for commodity donations, half of which is earmarked for The Emergency Food Assistance Program.

"That brings me to another point. Food insecurity isn't just about quantity anymore. It's about health too, about getting folks nutritious food to eat. Two years ago USDA began focusing national attention on a growing epidemic in this country - obesity.

"Food insecurity and obesity 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.

"Obesity, especially among children, is a very serious public health problem. For example, we are seeing a dramatic rise in diabetes which is directly related to obesity. One of my recommendations to my successors both at USDA and other agencies will be to focus on the obesity epidemic.

"Government's role has been vital in the last seven years in not only fortifying what government does but in helping others to do their share.

"In 1996 the President signed the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act which allows businesses and farmers to donate food without fear of liability. That same year the President directed all federal agencies to help increase the recovery and gleaning of excess food.

"We've established 1-800-GLEAN-IT a toll-free how-to gleaning hotline. We've distributed over 20,000 copies of a Citizens' Guide to Food Recovery and Gleaning and we worked with the National Restaurant Association to produce a food donation guide for its members.

"We've changed crop insurance regulations to allow farmers to donate partially damaged but perfectly wholesome produce without affecting their claims. And we've created or aided grass-roots recovery projects in over 40 states with farmers and ranchers that's resulted in donations of million of pounds of excess food -- much of which has gone to America's Second Harvest food banks. And we've had a great deal of success in gleaning efforts with farmers markets.

"When we started down this path a few years ago, gleaning and food recovery were a whole new concept for USDA. I first became involved with this issue in Wichita. My wife and I saw tremendous waste in industrial cafeterias - perfectly good, edible food going to the dumpster. My instincts, my values told me we had to do something about that. There's a lot of talk in the air these days about the influence of faith in government. Well I'm proud of the personal and spiritual values that help me to be a better public servant. 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 like America's Second Harvest or helping to build community gardens, each of us has a duty to the poor and to the stranger.

"For the first time in history, food recovery became a key part of USDA's message and mission. But the important point here is that fighting hunger cannot be about one person, or one piece of legislation, or one food drive. It's an ongoing struggle in which each citizen can play a role.

"That's the theme behind USDA's Community Food Security Initiative. Folks at the local level putting their ideas to work in their communities with USDA as a facilitator, a partner, a consultant, even an engineer.

"We're moving beyond just feeding people to enhancing the principle of empowerment. We're working to help folks get to where they not only can take care of themselves and their families - but where they too are contributing members of society, who also can give something back.

"To help reach this goal, I'm releasing new toolkits to aid in state and local anti-hunger efforts. One of these is a handbook called the Community Food Security Resource Kit, the most comprehensive guide ever produced on Federal resources and best practices to fight hunger, improve nutrition, and strengthen local food systems. Simply put, it is an invaluable "How To" guide that will be in hard copy and on the USDA web site.

"So government does have a very important and meaningful role and what we do does make a difference. There is less hunger in America today than in the 1960's -- and no longer any actual starvation -- because of vital programs like Food Stamps, School Meals, WIC and so on.

"But with all we have done, and with all we are doing, I stand before you today, just a few months short of the end of my tenure as Agriculture Secretary to say, it is just not enough.

"Today I'm releasing the latest USDA study on hunger and food insecurity in America. And I'm afraid that they confirm what you see in your food banks, food pantries and hot meals programs everyday - there are still too many people in this great and prosperous nation who face hunger and food insecurity on a regular basis.

"In 1999, 10.1% of American households, comprising about 31 million Americans and including more than 12 million children, lived in households that suffered from either hunger or food insecurity. Thirty one million people. During that same period of time, unemployment has gone down far more dramatically. This report suggests what you already know, that too many hard working people are food insecure. And though the report shows that hunger and food insecurity have declined since 1995, the fact is it remains unacceptably high despite the most prosperous economy in history.

"Folks, if we cannot marshal the will and the commitment to fix this problem now, during these times of prosperity, then when?

"I'm not here to give a political speech, but these days I've heard some talk about how there is no hunger, how there really is no food insecurity. Well, as the Secretary whose job it is to fight hunger, I feel it is my duty to set the record straight. Not only is there too much hunger and food insecurity in this nation, it exists in every state, and every state has a responsibility to ensure that all its citizens have their basic needs met. Problems are not solved simply by talking about them or pretending they don't exist. We need to acknowledge that hunger is still a problem and take concrete action to address the challenge.

"Over the past seven years this Administration has expanded the federal nutrition safety net and we've built a strong partnership between government and non-profits and faith-based organizations. Now we must build on that infrastructure.

"We begin with Food Stamps. The President, Vice President and I have been concerned about the dramatic decline in the number of people using Food Stamps compared to the many millions who are eligible.

"I want to thank America's Second Harvest for your study indicating that difficult, often unfair Food Stamps applications procedures in the states -- as well as USDA's own sometimes burdensome guidance to the states -- make it difficult and humiliating for families in need to get Food Stamps. We should not punish people for being poor. Being poor is difficult enough. It should not be substantially more burdensome to get USDA Food Stamp benefits than USDA farm payments. And while I welcome the study, I also want to encourage America's Second Harvest to increase your already determined efforts in reaching out to folks and informing them of the availability of Food Stamps, particularly the working poor who have left the cash assistance program but remain eligible for Food Stamps.

"As you know we have launched an extensive outreach effort to inform people about Food Stamps. I'd also like to see the FORK Act become law so we can enhance food stamp outreach for children. But we also need to provide benefits to vulnerable groups like adult legal immigrants and remove the administrative barriers to Food Stamp participation. That's why passing the Hunger Relief Act is so important, so we can raise the value of a car people own without being penalized at the dinner table. And shortly we will be releasing new Food Stamp regulations that help to improve access, make the program more flexible and generally ensure that the rights of Food Stamp clients are protected.

"In fact, Under Secretary Shirley Watkins has just completed a series of Food Stamp conversations with hundreds of people across the nation giving USDA advice on how to improve the Food Stamp program. We also need to expand our extremely successful Food Stamp/Social Security Combined Application project which helps seniors apply for Food Stamps through their social security office -- a sort of one stop shopping that has gotten dramatically positive results in a pilot effort in South Carolina.

"I remain concerned about the Food Stamp application process. In some states the application is only a few pages while in others it is much more complicated. The fact is there is no correlation between the length of an application and the error rate. What is the role of USDA in all of this?

"In our efforts to ensure reduction of fraud and improper benefit payments, we must also use good judgment and common sense. The Welfare Reform law said we cannot force states to adopt a model application but the divergence in the complexity of these applications is unacceptable. I've instructed our Food Stamp administrators to work with community based organization and the Office of Inspector General to try to address this problem.

"One of our proudest successes has been our ability to empower and motivate, to provide the seeds for grass roots solutions and to help organizations like America's Second Harvest reach their fullest potential. So we need to ensure that the Community Food Security Initiative continues to receive bipartisan support in the tradition of other federal nutrition safety net programs. There is a rather blatant attempt in the Congress to undermine this program and I can't understand why. This program helps people and communities at the grass roots level develop local solutions for hunger and food insecurity. And it provides support to non-government and faith-based organizations to give aid, comfort and guidance to the neediest among us. What's wrong with that? It seems to me that some of my friends on the other side of the political aisle ought to be the biggest advocates for community-based solutions.

"We're working to expand our School Breakfasts and After School Snack Programs including Kids Café, and to expand outreach efforts and help communities build infrastructures and facilities to meet the challenges of food insecurity. And we're working to create jobs and economic opportunities and provide better education so people have the tools to lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty, provide for themselves and become contributing members of society.

"There is a lot to be proud of. But frankly, I can't tell you how shocking it is that there are 31 million food insecure people in the richest most abundant nation on earth -- in a nation that next year will export $51.5 billion in farm products - in a nation that throws out over a quarter of its food.

"Fighting hunger has always been a major concern of mine from earliest days of public service in Wichita, to my days in the House where I was proud to be a part of the effort in 1977 to eliminate the purchase requirement for Food Stamps, and now to my days as Secretary where we've fortified the nutrition safety net and developed a role as partner for the federal government in community based anti-hunger efforts. But just because I will be leaving my present job, doesn't mean I will be leaving this issue. No matter who you are or what you do, you can have a role in eliminating food insecurity for all of our neighbors.

"Hunger and food insecurity are profoundly difficult challenges that have plagued humankind for centuries. All of us gathered here today, mindful of the fact that there is still much to do, should be proud of how far we've come, and how much we've achieved through government, non-profits, communities, and faith-based organizations working together. But our greatest legacy in this effort is the momentum and dedication we pass to those who succeed us. So no matter who sits in my chair come January, I'm asking you to hold his or her feet to the fire, and to ensure that the gains we've made are carried on, and the foundation we've fortified is further built upon.

"Thank you."