[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
HEARING TO REVIEW ACCESS TO HEALTHY FOODS FOR BENEFICIARIES OF FEDERAL
NUTRITION PROGRAMS AND EXPLORE
INNOVATIVE METHODS TO IMPROVE
AVAILABILITY
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS,
OVERSIGHT, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
APRIL 14, 2010
__________
Serial No. 111-46
Printed for the use of the Committee on Agriculture
agriculture.house.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
56-068 WASHINGTON : 2009
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC
area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC
20402-0001
COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota, Chairman
TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania, FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma, Ranking
Vice Chairman Minority Member
MIKE McINTYRE, North Carolina BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia
LEONARD L. BOSWELL, Iowa JERRY MORAN, Kansas
JOE BACA, California TIMOTHY V. JOHNSON, Illinois
DENNIS A. CARDOZA, California SAM GRAVES, Missouri
DAVID SCOTT, Georgia MIKE ROGERS, Alabama
JIM MARSHALL, Georgia STEVE KING, Iowa
STEPHANIE HERSETH SANDLIN, South RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas
Dakota K. MICHAEL CONAWAY, Texas
HENRY CUELLAR, Texas JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
JIM COSTA, California JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio
BRAD ELLSWORTH, Indiana ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska
TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota DAVID P. ROE, Tennessee
STEVE KAGEN, Wisconsin BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri
KURT SCHRADER, Oregon GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
DEBORAH L. HALVORSON, Illinois BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana
KATHLEEN A. DAHLKEMPER, CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
Pennsylvania ------
BOBBY BRIGHT, Alabama
BETSY MARKEY, Colorado
FRANK KRATOVIL, Jr., Maryland
MARK H. SCHAUER, Michigan
LARRY KISSELL, North Carolina
JOHN A. BOCCIERI, Ohio
SCOTT MURPHY, New York
EARL POMEROY, North Dakota
TRAVIS W. CHILDERS, Mississippi
WALT MINNICK, Idaho
------
______
Professional Staff
Robert L. Larew, Chief of Staff
Andrew W. Baker, Chief Counsel
April Slayton, Communications Director
Nicole Scott, Minority Staff Director
______
Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and
Forestry
JOE BACA, California, Chairman
HENRY CUELLAR, Texas JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska,
STEVE KAGEN, Wisconsin Ranking Minority Member
KURT SCHRADER, Oregon STEVE KING, Iowa
KATHLEEN A. DAHLKEMPER, JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio
Pennsylvania CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, Wyoming
TRAVIS W. CHILDERS, Mississippi
Lisa Shelton, Subcommittee Staff Director
(ii)
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Baca, Hon. Joe, a Representative in Congress from California,
opening statement.............................................. 1
Prepared statement........................................... 3
Dahlkemper, Hon. Kathleen A., a Representative in Congress from
Pennsylvania, opening statement................................ 10
Fortenberry, Hon. Jeff, a Representative in Congress from
Nebraska, opening statement.................................... 4
Prepared statement........................................... 6
Kagen, Hon. Steve, a Representative in Congress from Wisconsin,
opening statement.............................................. 7
Peterson, Hon. Collin C., a Representative in Congress from
Minnesota, prepared statement.................................. 11
Rush, Hon. Bobby L., a Representative in Congress from Illinois.. 10
Schmidt, Hon. Jean, a Representative in Congress from Ohio,
opening statement.............................................. 8
Schrader, Hon. Kurt, a Representative in Congress from Oregon,
opening statement.............................................. 9
Witnesses
Concannon, Hon. Kevin W., Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition,
and Consumer Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D.C................................................ 12
Prepared statement........................................... 14
Ver Ploeg, Ph.D., Michele ``Shelly'', Economist, Economic
Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D.C............................................................ 18
Prepared statement........................................... 19
Krieger, M.S., Eleanor ``Ellie'', Registered Dietitian and Host,
Healthy Appetite, Food Network, New York, NY................... 30
Prepared statement........................................... 32
Rocco DiSpirito, Cookbook Author and Chef, New York, NY;
accompanied by Vicki B. Escarra, President and CEO, Feeding
America, Chicago, IL........................................... 39
Prepared statement........................................... 46
Prepared statement of Ms. Escarra............................ 40
Submitted report............................................. 83
Wattermann, Randall, Founding Chairman, Member, Board of
Directors, and Treasurer, Nebraska Food Cooperative, West
Point, NE...................................................... 51
Prepared statement........................................... 53
Brown, Jeffrey N., Founder, President, and CEO, Brown's Super
Stores, Inc., Westville, NJ.................................... 56
Prepared statement........................................... 58
Submitted report............................................. 88
Endicott, Diana, President and Farm to Market Coordinator, Good
Natured Family FarmsTM; Marketing Manager and Co-
Owner, Rainbow Organic Farms, d.b.a. GNFF...................... 61
Prepared statement........................................... 63
HEARING TO REVIEW ACCESS TO HEALTHY FOODS FOR BENEFICIARIES OF FEDERAL
NUTRITION PROGRAMS AND EXPLORE
INNOVATIVE METHODS TO IMPROVE
AVAILABILITY
----------
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14, 2010
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight,
Nutrition, and Forestry,
Committee on Agriculture,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:05 a.m., in
Room 1300, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Joe Baca
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Members present: Representatives Baca, Cuellar, Kagen,
Schrader, Dahlkemper, Peterson (ex officio), Fortenberry,
Schmidt, Lummis, and Lucas (ex officio).
Staff present: Claiborne Crain, Keith Jones, John Konya,
Robert L. Larew, James Ryder, Lisa Shelton, April Slayton,
Rebekah Solem, John Goldberg, Tamara Hinton, Pam Miller, Mary
Nowak, Jamie Mitchell, and Sangina Wright.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOE BACA, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM CALIFORNIA
The Chairman. The Subcommittee on Department Operations,
Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry will come to order to review
the healthy food for beneficiaries of Federal nutrition
programs and to explore innovative methods to improve
availability. I would like to welcome each and every one of you
to our Subcommittee meeting this morning.
We will begin with opening statements, and I will begin
with my opening statement and then call on the Ranking Member,
Mr. Fortenberry, to make his statement and then ask any of the
other Members if they would like to make an opening statement.
Again, I would like to welcome the Committee Members that
are here and those that are testifying. Good morning, thank you
for being with the Subcommittee.
I am really excited to continue our examination of how
Federal nutrition policies can improve the health of our
nation. Today we will discuss how access to wholesome,
nutritious foods affects health, particularly among children
and low-income populations. As we all know, the First Lady,
Michelle Obama, has done a great job of bringing much-needed
attention to childhood obesity problems in America. Her
leadership and her dedication to improving the health of
America's children sets a positive example for all of us.
Over the past 4 years, the Subcommittee has built a record
to link the importance of nutrition and health. In 2007, we had
a hearing that demonstrated the importance of the food stamp
program, now called SNAP, to the health and long-term success
of children.
Then in 2008, with the farm bill, we provided a record
amount of funding for nutrition safety net programs like SNAP
and food banks. We also made important changes to promote
healthy eating. We funded pilot programs that will encourage
the consumption of more fruits and vegetables by expanding the
Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Snack Program to all 50 states.
This morning I had the pleasure of meeting with Secretary
Vilsack and addressed that issue as well; we need to continue
to do further outreach in assuring that many of our schools do
provide fresh fruits and vegetables.
Further, this Subcommittee has heard testimony on the
widespread economic costs of obesity in the United States. We
have learned that obesity costs our nation more than $140
billion per year in health expenditures.
So, obesity affects the whole family, as well. Recently, I
was watching The Dr. Oz Show on television, and he indicated in
one of the programs that obesity is linked to breast cancer in
20 percent of women.
Earlier this year, we examined how the lost revenues due to
poor participation in Federal nutrition programs affects our
nation, with particular focus in my home State of California.
Unfortunately, California has lost nearly $7 billion--and I
state $7 billion--in economic activity every year due to poor
SNAP participation. So we have to look at how we can get people
to enroll in SNAP and put food on the table, especially at this
bad economic time.
The State of California has not done as well as some of the
other states in assuring that they take advantage of revenue
that would be coming back to the state. California has a $21
billion deficit. And I look at $7 billion in lost revenues.
Somehow we have to get that message to our Governor and the
people in the State of California.
This past summer we were gracefully hosted by Mr.
Fortenberry of Nebraska. We had a chance to see firsthand some
of the innovative ways in which businesses and communities are
promoting healthful living while saving money and improving the
process. And I want to thank Mr. Fortenberry for having that
hearing in Lincoln, Nebraska.
And today's hearing is a direct result of the hearing we
had last year on obesity. In 2009, experts from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention testified that the lack of
access to healthy food significantly contributes to the obesity
epidemic. Access to a variety of quality foods is an issue, and
we acknowledged that in the farm bill with the inclusion of the
Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center. I am
confident that this hearing will give us a better insight as to
how to improve access, and I state, how to improve access to
healthy food in communities across America. That is what we
have to work on. How do we do that?
Unfortunately, many Americans live in areas we call ``food
deserts'' where they have limited or no access to nutritious
food options. Even more Americans live in the so-called ``food
swamps,'' areas that lack access to healthy food, but are
filled with fast food restaurants on every corner and stores
carrying unhealthy snacks. And I am just as guilty as anyone,
because I just went to In-N-Out Burger and I enjoyed that
hamburger. But we have them all over the place.
How can we better educate underserved communities on the
importance of healthy food? What can we do to make fruits and
vegetables more accessible and affordable to impoverished
Americans? And how can we best change the culture of our
schools, homes, and even food industries so that we can
influence behavior and attitude in a positive way?
How can we ensure that the food we provide for our families
lives up to the highest safety standards possible?
These are some of the many questions that we hope will be
discussed today. I look forward to hearing from Under Secretary
Concannon on the USDA's efforts to promote healthy food access.
In the farm bill, Congress asked the Department of Agriculture
to report on access to nutritious foods. The report was
completed last June and we are pleased to have the primary
author of the report, Michelle Ver Ploeg on our first panel to
discuss the findings this morning.
In addition to our government witnesses, I am pleased to
welcome our second panel of witnesses. They are an impressive
group of professionals and business people who understand very
well the nuts and bolts of expanding access and awareness of
healthy food. They are also skilled communicators and role
models. It is one thing to understand what needs to be done,
but to actually put these ideas into practice requires great
creativity and talent.
Again, let me extend my personal thanks to all of our
witnesses for being here and for the willingness to share their
knowledge with us. We are a small Subcommittee with a very
large interest in the health and welfare of the people in this
country. And if we can be cost-effective in what we do and
promote healthy lifestyles, that is important for us.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Baca follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Joe Baca, a Representative in Congress from
California
Good morning and thank you all for being here before this
Subcommittee.
I am excited to continue our examination of how good Federal
nutrition policies can improve the health of our nation.
Today, we will discuss how access to wholesome and nutritious foods
affects health--particularly among children and low-income populations.
As we all know--First Lady Michelle Obama has done a great job of
bringing much needed attention to the childhood obesity problem in
America.
Her leadership and dedication to improving the health of America's
children sets a positive example for all of us.
Over the past 4 years, this Subcommittee has built a record that
links the importance of nutrition and health.
In 2007, we held a hearing that demonstrated the importance of food
stamp program (now called SNAP) to the health and long term success of
children.
Then, in the 2008 Farm Bill, we provided record levels of funding
for nutrition and safety net programs--like SNAP and food banks.
We also made important changes that promote healthy eating.
We funded pilot programs that encourage the consumption of more
fruits and vegetables.
And we expanded the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program to all
50 states.
Since that time, this Subcommittee has heard testimony on the
widespread economic costs of poor nutrition in the United States.
We have learned that obesity costs our nation more than $140
billion per year in health expenditures.
And earlier this year, we examined how lost revenue due to poor
participation in Federal nutrition programs affects our nation--with a
particular focus on my home State of California.
Unfortunately, California loses nearly $7 billion in economic
activity every year due to poor SNAP participation.
This past summer, we were graciously hosted by Mr. Fortenberry in
Nebraska.
We had a chance to see first-hand some of the innovative ways in
which businesses and communities are promoting healthful living, while
saving money and improving lives in the process.
Today's hearing is a direct result of a hearing we held last year
on obesity.
Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
testified that a lack of access to healthy foods significantly
contributes to the obesity epidemic.
Access to a variety of quality food was an issue we acknowledged in
the farm bill with inclusion of funding for the Healthy Urban Food
Enterprise Development Center.
I am confident this hearing will give us better insight in how to
improve access to healthy foods in communities across America.
Unfortunately--many Americans live in areas we call ``food
deserts''--where they have limited or no access to nutritious food
options.
Even more Americans live in so-called ``food swamps''--areas that
lack access to healthy foods, but are filled with fast food restaurants
and corner stores carrying unhealthy snacks.
How can we better educate underserved communities on the importance
of healthy foods?
What can we do to make fruits and vegetables more accessible and
affordable to impoverished Americans?
How can we best change the culture of our schools, homes, and even
the food industry--so we can influence behaviors and attitudes in a
positive way?
How can we ensure the food we provide for our families is home-
grown, and lives up to the highest safety standards possible?
These are some of the many questions we hope to discuss today.
I look forward to hearing from Under Secretary Concannon on the
USDA's efforts to promote healthy food access.
In the farm bill, Congress asked the Department of Agriculture to
report on access to nutritious foods.
Their report was completed last June, and we are pleased to have
the primary author of that report, Michele Ver Ploeg, on our first
panel to discuss the findings.
In addition to our government witnesses, I am pleased to welcome
our second panel of expert witnesses.
They are an impressive group of professionals and business people
who understand very well the nuts and bolts of expanding access and
awareness of healthy foods.
They are also skilled communicators and role models.
It is one thing to understand what needs to be done.
But to actually put those ideas into practice requires great
creativity and talent.
Again, let me extend my personal thanks to all of our witnesses for
being here, and for their willingness to share their knowledge with us.
We are a small Subcommittee with a very large interest in the
health and welfare of the people in this country.
We are here to listen and to learn so we can make good policy
choices.
With that, I will turn it over to Ranking Member Fortenberry for
his opening comments.
The Chairman. With that, I would like to turn it over to
our Ranking Member, Mr. Fortenberry, for his opening comments.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF FORTENBERRY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM NEBRASKA
Mr. Fortenberry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for
holding this important hearing today to explore the important
issue of access to healthy foods. I want to also thank you for
the invitation to join you in California earlier this year. I
thought it was a very productive hearing.
And I cannot help but add that that burger that you had
earlier, there is a one in five chance that it came from
Nebraska. We produce 20 percent of the hamburgers and steaks in
this country.
But within the larger discussion, I would like to focus on
a particular market area that has enjoyed rapid growth in
recent years, one that I find both exciting as a policymaker
and a food consumer, the emergence of local food systems. Local
food markets take shape in various forms--the community farmers
markets, food cooperatives, direct-to-consumers sales, the
community-supported agriculture networks and farm-to-school
programs. In a few minutes, we will hear more about an
innovative online food initiative in my own home State of
Nebraska. But whatever their form, local food markets reconnect
farmers and families, urban and rural communities, and people
to agriculture, linkages that in many ways have been sacrificed
in place of a modern market system.
Americans are increasingly interested in knowing about
where their food comes from. This has created a large market
opportunity for local agriculture producers and the growth of
these local food systems and farmers markets have increased by
almost seven percent in just the last few years. And the
organics food market has had sales of nearly $23 billion last
year.
In my view, these market opportunities will only continue
to grow, benefiting everyone in agriculture. Local food markets
represent not only a growing market trend, they help meet
multiple public policy objectives, as we will hear today.
Buying and selling locally grown food creates economic
opportunity by building new markets for ag producers,
supporting healthy lifestyles by providing nutritious options
and increasing good food access to consumers. And it also
promotes good environmental stewardship.
Regarding economic opportunity, the economic potential of
local food systems for farmers and communities is very
significant. Economic analysis has shown that if consumers
shifted just one percent of their purchasing power to buy
locally grown products, farmers would see a gain of five
percent in their income. And buying directly from a farmer
sends 90 percent of the food dollar back to the farm.
Local economies also stand to gain significantly from local
food systems. Right now, only about seven percent of local food
dollars stay in the community. That number by comparison was 40
percent a century ago. Food dollars that stay in the community
are spent in the community. From the bakery to the butcher shop
to the hardware store, Main Street businesses in our local
economies are strengthened when food is raised and sold
locally.
Today, local food producers are not only farmers and
livestock producers, they are also business people. Their
agriculture entrepreneurship will help bring about rural
revitalization. And local, state, and Federal policies should
recognize, I believe, these efforts as a strategy for local
economic recovery.
Second, let me touch on the issue of health and wellness.
Local foods provide a fresh, healthy food option for consumers.
As the Chairman mentioned in August, we held a Subcommittee
field hearing in my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was
called, Hearing To Examine New and Innovative Ways To Improve
Nutrition and Wellness Programs. Local businesses, health and
nutrition experts, talked about the value of wellness
initiatives. And one of the witnesses gave testimony about the
nutritional impacts of local foods and provided her experience
with the very popular, Good Fresh Local dining program at the
University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Good nutrition, health and
wellness practices deserve to be an important part of
structural healthcare reform.
Today we see an epidemic of chronic diseases across the
country. And public health statistics and economic data show
that 75 percent of all healthcare spending is related in some
way to treating lifestyle-related chronic diseases. Seven out
of every ten deaths in this country are caused by a chronic
condition, largely lifestyle related. Perhaps better
preventing, better managing, and, in some cases, even reversing
these trends can occur through healthy lifestyle changes. And,
of course, that is related significantly to nutrition.
Incentivizing health and wellness practices with good
nutrition as a central focus, I believe, should continue to be
a top priority of good healthcare reform. Local and regional
food systems need to be a working solution to the challenges of
better health and increase access of good foods, as well, to
at-risk populations.
Third, let me touch briefly on the issue of environmental
stewardship. Production of local foods promotes good
environmental stewardship outcomes. The average produce in
America travels 1,500 food miles before it is consumed. The
American Farm Land Trust estimates that 1 million barrels of
oil could be conserved each week if Americans ate just one meal
consisting of locally grown foods.
So with that, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to hearing more
about this in the upcoming discussion. And thank you once again
for holding this important hearing.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Fortenberry follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Jeff Fortenberry, a Representative in
Congress from Nebraska
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity today to explore the
important issue of access to healthy foods. Within this larger
discussion, I would like to focus on a particular market area that has
enjoyed rapid growth in recent years--one I find exciting both as a
policymaker and a food consumer: the emergence of local foods systems.
Local foods markets take shape in various forms--the community
farmers market, food cooperatives, direct-to-consumer sales, community
supported agriculture networks, and farm to school programs. In a few
minutes we will hear more about an innovative online local foods
initiative in my home State of Nebraska.
Whatever their form, local foods markets reconnect farmers and
families, urban and rural communities, and people and agriculture--
linkages that in many ways have been sacrificed in place of a modern
market system. Americans are increasingly interested in where their
food comes from and how it is raised. This has created a large market
opportunity for local agricultural producers. The growth of local foods
systems and farmers' markets have increased in number by almost seven
percent since 2006, and the organic foods market had sales of nearly
$23 billion last year. In my view these market opportunities will only
continue to grow.
Local foods markets represent not only a growing market trend; they
help meet multiple public policy objectives. Buying and selling locally
grown foods creates economic opportunity by building new markets for ag
producers, supports healthful lifestyles by providing nutritious food
options and increasing access of good foods to consumers, and promotes
environmental stewardship.
Economic Opportunity
First, the economic potential of local foods systems for farmers
and communities is significant. Economic analysis has shown that if
consumers shifted just one percent of their purchasing power to buy
locally grown products, farmers would see a gain of five percent in
their income. And buying directly from a farmer sends 90 percent of the
food dollar back to the farm.
Local economies also stand to gain significantly from local food
systems. Right now, only about seven percent of local food dollars stay
in the community. That number, by comparison, was 40 percent in 1910.
Food dollars that stay in the community are spent in the community.
From the bakery and butcher shop to the hardware store, Main Street
businesses and our local economies are strengthened when food is raised
and sold locally.
Today, local foods producers are not only farmers and livestock
producers, they are businesspeople. Their agricultural entrepreneurship
will help bring about rural revitalization, and local, state, and
Federal policies should recognize their efforts as a strategy for local
economic recovery.
Health and Wellness
Second, local foods provide a fresh, healthy food option for
consumers. In August, Chairman Baca and I held a Subcommittee field
hearing in my hometown of Lincoln. It was called ``Hearing To Examine
New and Innovative Ways To Improve Nutrition and Wellness Programs.''
Local business, health, and nutrition experts talked about the value of
wellness initiatives. One of the witnesses gave testimony about the
nutritional impacts of local foods and provided her experience with the
popular Good Fresh Local dining program at the University of Nebraska.
Good nutrition, health, and wellness practices deserve to be an
important part of structural healthcare reform. Today we see an
epidemic of chronic diseases across the country. Public health
statistics and economic data show that 75% of all healthcare spending
is related in some way to treating lifestyle-related chronic
conditions. Seven out of every ten deaths in this country are caused by
a chronic condition, and the top four killers are heart disease,
diabetes, cancer and strokes. These are largely lifestyle-related
diseases. They could be prevented, better managed, and in some cases,
even reversed through healthy lifestyle changes.
But, according to recent statistics, the average American is now 23
pounds overweight. Obesity among young people has tripled since 1980.
Obesity is a major risk factor that leads to the onset of these chronic
conditions.
Incentivizing health and wellness practices, with good nutrition as
a central focus, should be a top healthcare priority. Another recent
hearing of this Subcommittee examined Federal nutrition programs and
their impacts on individual health and wellness and the challenge of
growing obesity rates. We have work to do. Local and regional food
systems need to be a working solution to the challenges of better
health and increased access of good foods to at-risk populations.
Environmental Stewardship
Third, the production of local foods promotes good environmental
stewardship. The average produce in America travels 1,500 food miles
before it is consumed. The American Farmland Trust estimates that 1
million barrels of oil could be conserved each week if every American
ate just one meal consisting of local foods weekly.
For each of these reasons--economic, health and nutrition, and
environmental--I support the development of regional and local foods
systems. I believe, in addition to the benefits I have mentioned, that
there are creative ways in which local foods entrepreneurs and local
foods supporters can help meet the challenges of access to good foods
in underserved areas, rural and urban. I look forward to hearing more
about this in the upcoming discussion. Mr. Chairman, thank you once
again for choosing to explore this important matter.
The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Fortenberry.
At this time I will turn to the Members in the order that
they came in.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. STEVE KAGEN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM WISCONSIN
Mr. Kagen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this very
important hearing. I don't have a formal speech to give, but
just to remind everybody that in the most recent farm bill that
we worked so hard on, we secured $30 million for an obesity
study to educate our children on how important it is to be lean
and think lean.
I would remind everybody that, as a physician,
environmental pollution begins at the lips. If you don't take
it in, it won't get on. Isn't that right, Jeff?
Mr. Fortenberry. Yes.
Mr. Kagen. Every time we have this conversation with Jeff
in the room, we kind of rib each other. He has beat me right
now on weight loss.
Aside from the $30 million, we also had programs in the
farm bill that would enhance the opportunity for our local
farmers to grow food locally and sell it locally and get it
into our school system. I would hope that you would offer some
comments today on some of those programs.
In northeast Wisconsin, eight percent of the people are on
a Food Nutrition program, food stamp, or SNAP program. And our
children at school, 35 percent of all children attending public
schools in northeast Wisconsin would not be eating but for
these essential and lifesaving programs.
Look how a generation has changed. When I went to school,
we didn't have kitchens at school. We brought our lunch. We
learned how to negotiate a baloney for a peanut butter and
jelly. We got to know in our classrooms pretty--we didn't have
burritos up in northeast Wisconsin, but we would be happy to
sell them to you.
But we really have gone through a very significant change
in our culture where the food is not always prepared by the
parent or parents at home. So we have to understand that, sad
as it may be for many children, if they didn't have a meal at
school and Breakfast or Lunch Program, and during the summer,
they simply wouldn't have the nutrition they need to gain the
energy to have that education.
So, what we will find out is what we have already known;
that our real opposition with regard to educating our
population and our next generation about nutrition and the
importance of being healthy and eating healthy, our real
opposition is on Madison Avenue and in marketing. And I don't
know that government can ever out-compete and win that
marketing battle, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't be trying.
I thank you for appearing here today. I look forward to
your testimony. I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
Next I would like to call on Jean Schmidt.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JEAN SCHMIDT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM OHIO
Mrs. Schmidt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for
holding this very important hearing today. I would like to
thank, first off, all the witnesses who are here today to
discuss an issue that has become very dear to my heart, and
that is nutrition. I look forward to this hearing and hearing
from all of you. I believe this is an issue that is finally
getting the recognition it so deserves.
Obesity rates continue to rise at an alarming rate in the
United States. Obesity is rapidly becoming the leading cause of
preventable disease in America. We know that eating more fresh
fruits and vegetables is a positive step towards a healthier
lifestyle and reducing obesity. There are countless studies
that show that diets rich in fresh fruits and vegetables lower
the risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, certain types of
cancer, high blood pressure, and other diseases. Needless to
say, there is a direct link between eating healthily and
healthcare spending.
In the markups of the 2008 Farm Bill, I made it clear that
I favor looking at what we could do to promote healthier
lifestyles. I offered multiple amendments to the measure that
were aimed at incentivizing programs and participants in the
programs to purchase healthier foods with their program
dollars.
And I would like to just have a little comment here. Unlike
Congressman Kagen, I went to a school that did offer lunches.
In fact, they didn't want you to pack lunches. They wanted you
to eat their lunch. But it was a Catholic school. And at the
time, we were on the cheese program, which was really butter
and milk. So every day we got a butter sandwich that had about
this much butter on it. Why? Because the Catholic schools got
it for free. And the good nuns, not wanting to waste anything,
wanted us to eat all that butter. To this day, I am not that
much of a fan of a whole lot of butter. But needless to say,
that was not a healthy lifestyle, and yet it was promoted
because in an area where I grew up, that was a rather lower
income area, having something for free was a very tempting
filler for the school.
And that kind of an attitude, I do believe, transcends to
some of our folks that have modest incomes, go to the grocery
store, and have to make choices based on dollars, not
necessarily on nutrition and healthy lifestyles.
So I look forward to this hearing. I look forward to its
emphasis on promoting a healthy lifestyle and on what the
implementation of the farm bill has produced. Thank you. I
yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Jean.
Next, I would like to call on Kurt Schrader.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. KURT SCHRADER, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
CONGRESS FROM OREGON
Mr. Schrader. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a couple of
comments. I had the opportunity during the break to visit some
of my schools and hand out nutritious fruit and yogurt parfaits
to some of the students trying to encourage good eating habits.
And it was really fun and exciting. The sad comment is of
course in this economy, more and more kids are on free and
reduced lunch. Over 50 percent of my school districts are on
free and reduced lunch programs. This is a very important issue
for us.
Second, at some point, if the Under Secretary wouldn't
mind, I would like him to comment, if he knows. There is a
program in the Pacific Northwest, based out of Portland,
Oregon, put on by ECONorthwest, which is called a food hub. It
is a nonprofit organization. What they are trying to do is put
retailers and sellers in touch with one another through the
Internet about opportunities to buy and sell healthy,
nutritious, grown-on-the-farm produce. It is particularly
helpful for small farmers that can't make up a big lot to send
to a huge grocery store. But if the grocery store is a little
short for one reason or another, a restaurant or a school, this
would be an opportunity for local farmers to match their
produce into the needs of the community.
So it sounded like a really interesting--I think they have
a membership thing. You join online for a nominal fee. But it
sounded like a really exciting way of advancing what this
Committee, this Congress, and this Administration is all about.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Kurt.
Next I would like to call on Kathy Dahlkemper.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. KATHLEEN A. DAHLKEMPER, A
REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM PENNSYLVANIA
Mrs. Dahlkemper. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I appreciate
the witnesses today. I look forward to your testimony.
I was trained as a dietician. I believe I am the first
dietician ever in Congress. When I was trained as a dietician
back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, we didn't really talk
about Type 2 diabetes in children. I was working diabetic camp
for a number of years. I think it was about 1999, the first
Type 2 diabetic child showed up at our diabetic camp. The next
year there were four or five. And the number continued to
increase. So I saw this trend happening. I think as I look back
at the statistics, it was pretty close to what I saw in my
little microcosm of diabetic care to what we saw across the
country.
So I have been dealing with health and wellness issues and
trying to treat those for years. So being a part of this new
Congress--I am a new Member here. I wasn't here for the farm
bill last time. I am very much looking forward to today's
hearing and to working on the farm bill, going forward, and
seeing what we can do legislatively and policy-wise on these
huge issues.
We passed the healthcare reform bill not even a month ago.
But if we don't take care of these health and wellness issues,
particularly with our children and childhood obesity, we will
never control the cost of healthcare in this country.
So I thank you very much, the witnesses. I thank the
Chairman for holding this hearing today. I look forward to your
testimony.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
I know that we have Representative Bobby Rush here today.
We have the rules that are set in place in reference to Members
and that only Members of the Committee can sit at the dais,
Bobby. So I am going to have to ask you, if you can, to comply
with the rules. Bobby, if you can, there is no reason why you
can't take that mic. And I will let you make a comment if you
want at this point.
Mr. Rush. Okay. That sounds good.
The Chairman. If there is no objection.
STATEMENT OF HON. BOBBY L. RUSH, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM ILLINOIS
Mr. Rush. I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to
express to you and all the other very outstanding Members of
this Committee, I am here because I have a deep-seated
commitment to the subject at hand. And I have had a lot of
involvement in it. And I don't mean to burst in in any way or
to be disrespectful of the Committee or of Members of the
Committee. I was just here to observe and to learn more about
what is being done across the board.
As you know, in my Congressional district in my state, we
do have a number of ``food deserts,'' and I have been working
on this particular matter for a number of years. In the farm
bill, I worked very closely with the Chairman of the full
Committee in regards to getting some legislation and some
language in the farm bill that would codify food deserts and
also make food deserts--provide some grant money for those who
were interested in this particular issue at the community
level.
My activism in terms of my involvement in the 1960s I know
most of you may not remember, but we were an--the organization
I belonged to started a free breakfast for children program
back in the early 1960s. This issue has been an issue that I am
deeply concerned about. And I want to express my gratitude to
you and Members of this Committee for holding this hearing.
I just want to say last week I had an occasion to visit
Philadelphia. And I was with one of your witnesses here, Mr.
Brown, and I also went to the Reading Terminal. And I was
absolutely amazed at what was going on. I am just amazed. I am
excited about it. I have met others that have come to Chicago.
We are going to roll out the red carpet for him if he ever
decides to come there. But I just tell you I am elated, and I
am going to be here for as long as I can because I share a
subcommittee. So I might have to skedaddle out of here. But
again, Mr. Chairman, I thank you so much for just this
opportunity to say a few words.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Rush.
I would ask all other Members of the Subcommittee to submit
their opening statements for the record.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Peterson follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Collin C. Peterson, a Representative in
Congress from Minnesota
Thank you, Chairman Baca for holding this hearing today. The
problems of hunger and obesity are an ongoing concern for Members of
this Committee, and under Chairman Baca's leadership, we have held
several hearings that looked at the causes and effects of obesity.
The 2008 Farm Bill included several provisions related to combating
hunger and obesity, including expanded programs to provide fresh fruit
and vegetables to schools, the establishment of the Healthy Urban Food
Enterprise Development Center, and a USDA study on food deserts, which
we will be hearing more about from Under Secretary Concannon and Dr.
Ver Ploeg today.
On the second panel, we have witnesses who are doing innovative
things to address this challenge. Ms. Krieger and Mr. DiSpirito are
both very prominent culinary experts who care deeply about fighting the
obesity epidemic and are lending their star power to organizations that
are increasing access to healthy food. Mr. Wattermann's Nebraska Food
Cooperative, Mr. Brown's grocery stores and Ms. Endicott's farm are
proving that developing markets to expand the availability of locally
grown food can be profitable and socially responsible at the same time.
First Lady Michelle Obama has taken a proactive role in
establishing a national dialogue about what we must do to fight
childhood obesity. She highlighted the need for everyone to bear
responsibility for the health of our nation's children--individuals,
organizations, communities and government must all work together on
this important issue.
Ensuring that all Americans have access to an affordable, safe and
abundant supply of healthy food is a goal we all share. On the
Agriculture Committee, we are committed to doing our part, and I hope
that today we'll hear from some of the organizations that are doing
innovative work in communities to expand the availability of healthy
foods, particularly in low income areas and food deserts.
I thank our witnesses for joining us today to talk about this
important issue, and I look forward to their testimony.
The Chairman. With that, then, we will continue with the
witnesses. I will just make an additional statement. We have
talked about nutrition and health and the impact it has on our
educational system. As we address Child Nutrition Act
reauthorization this year, we are leaving behind a lot of our
children, because without an appropriate diet, without
appropriate food, it becomes very difficult for a lot of our
kids to take the exams in schools. And that is why when they
participate in these kind of lunch programs, it makes them
healthier and better, and they are able to function and think
better by eating healthy foods.
With that, I would like to again welcome the members who
are testifying. I would like to first start off with Mr.
Concannon. Please begin. You have 5 minutes, each of you. If
you happen to see me lift the gavel, that means that we are
nearing that time. And I probably will allow a few extra
minutes as well. And then right after Mr. Concannon, then we
will begin with Michelle Ver Ploeg who is an Economist at the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. So, Mr. Concannon, you may
begin.
STATEMENT OF HON. KEVIN W. CONCANNON, UNDER
SECRETARY FOR FOOD, NUTRITION, AND CONSUMER
SERVICES, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Mr. Concannon. Good morning. And thank you, Mr. Chairman,
Ranking Member Fortenberry, and Members of the Committee for
this opportunity to discuss access to healthful foods in the
nutrition assistance programs.
Improving access to foods, specifically healthy and
nutritious food, is central to the Department of Agriculture's
nutrition efforts. In each of our 15 nutrition assistance
programs, it is important that we not only enroll as many
eligible people as possible, but also ensure that retailers are
available for participants to purchase healthy foods with SNAP
benefits, formerly the food stamp program and WIC vouchers. Our
most recent data show that most American households, nearly 89
percent are food secure; but that leaves 11.1 percent, or 13
million households, who were food insecure sometime during
2008. Of those, 4.7 million experienced very low food security
at some time during the year. And when we say very low food
security, make no mistake about what we mean. These are
households that cut the size of meals, skip meals, or go whole
days without food. Most would agree these families face hunger.
At the same time, we face an obesity epidemic among not
only adults, but our children as well. As difficult as it is to
believe, obesity and hunger do coexist; 68 percent of adult
Americans are considered obese or overweight, while 16.9
percent of children are obese and 31.7 percent are overweight.
These data leave no doubt that the need for improved access to
healthy foods is evident every day across our country, and they
underscore the need for sound nutrition guidance to nutrition
assistance program participants and to the American public at
large.
As of September 30, 2009, there were 193,754 SNAP
authorized retailers, an increase of 27 percent over the past 6
years. And those numbers continue to rise. In the near future
we expect to release a new tool that will help clients find the
SNAP authorized stores near their home or workplace, providing
them with additional information to help access healthy food
options.
Increasing the number of farmers markets authorized to
accept SNAP benefits is another way to improve access to
healthful foods. Farmers market participation in SNAP is a win-
win situation for local farmers who expand their customer base
and for participants who gain access to healthy produce. To
weigh in on this effort, the President's budget for 2011
includes a proposed $4 million to provide all farmers markets
with SNAP EBT equipment. The 2008 Farm Bill authorized $20
million to determine if incentives provided to SNAP recipients
at point of sale increased the consumption of fruits,
vegetables, or other healthful foods. At USDA we have called
this the Healthy Incentive Pilots or HIP. And the USDA has
designed a study to provide the rigor necessary to attribute
any changes in fruit and vegetable consumption to the
incentive.
The competitive solicitation for both the project evaluator
and the project sites were recently released. Any effort to
increase access to healthy foods must address program
participation. Currently, 31 states use broad-based categorical
eligibility to raise the gross income limits and raise or
eliminate the asset test in SNAP. Through direct certification,
children are eligible for free meals at schools because the
households are approved for SNAP benefits and they are
identified. Such efforts reduce the barriers to access,
allowing more people in need of assistance to benefit from
these programs.
The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program
reach children in virtually every school district in the
nation. These programs currently provide nutritious meals to
more than 31 million children and more than 101,000 schools
each day. Improving the food choices that children have and
what they actually make at school is central to our efforts to
improve their diets and address the obesity crisis.
The reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Program presents
us with a historic opportunity to combat child hunger and
improve the health and nutrition of our children across the
country.
The President is proposing an investment of $10 billion in
additional funding over 10 years. And we are sticking with the
President. As I like to say, this is a very important
opportunity.
The WIC Program currently serves 9.1 million pregnant and
postpartum women and their infants and children. And there is
lots of evidence to point to the efficacy of that program, both
in terms of providing important targeted foods but also the
long-term health effects on both children and their moms.
Finally, the President's 2011 budget provides $400 million
to bring grocery stores and other healthy food retailers to
food deserts, both urban and rural. This effort, known as the
Healthy Food Financing Initiative, is a partnership between the
Department of the Treasury, the Health and Human Services
Department, and the Department of Agriculture. And it is
designed to eliminate food deserts within the next 7 years. The
Healthy Food Financing Initiative will promote a range of
interventions that expand access to nutritious foods, including
developing and equipping grocery stores and other small
businesses and healthy food retailers selling food in
communities that currently lack these options.
In closing, the Obama Administration is committed to
improving the Federal Nutrition Assistance Program by ensuring
that those in need have access to program benefits, the
knowledge to make wise food choices with those benefits, and
accessible retailers carrying healthy food in their
communities.
I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
And, again, thank you sincerely for the opportunity to speak on
these issues here today.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Concannon follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Kevin W. Concannon, Under Secretary for
Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D.C.
Good morning, and thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member
Fortenberry, and Members of the Committee, for the opportunity to
discuss access to healthful foods in the nutrition assistance programs.
As you know, USDA oversees 15 nutrition assistance programs, from
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), in which benefits
are provided through electronic benefit cards used by participants to
purchase foods at authorized retail stores, to programs like the
Commodity Supplemental Food Program and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable
Program, in which food is provided directly to the participants.
Improving access to food, specifically healthy and nutritious food,
is central to the Department of Agriculture's food and nutrition
efforts. In each of our nutrition assistance programs, it is important
that we not only enroll as many eligible people as possible, but also
provide information to make sure that our clients know how to make
healthful, nutritious food choices and, in programs like SNAP, ensure
that retailers are available for recipients to redeem benefits.
Our most recent data shows that most American households--nearly 89
percent--are food secure. But that leaves 11.1 percent, or 13 million
households, who were food insecure at some time during 2008. Of those,
4.7 million experienced very low food security at some time during the
year. And when I say food insecure, make no mistake that I mean they
are hungry.
At the same time, we face an obesity epidemic among not only adults
but our children as well. As unbelievable as it may seem, obesity and
hunger do coexist. Sixty-eight percent of adult Americans are
considered obese or overweight, while 16.9 percent of children are
obese and 31.7 percent are overweight. Nearly ten percent of American
health spending can be attributed to obesity. Clearly, these are
critical public health issues, with significant consequences for our
nation's future.
These data leave no doubt that the need for improved access to
healthy foods is evident every day across the country. At the same
time, they underscore the need for sound nutrition guidance to
nutrition assistance program participants and the general public.
People must have the knowledge and the desire to make a behavior change
toward healthier lifestyles.
The reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Programs presents us
with an historic opportunity to combat child hunger and improve the
health and nutrition of children across the nation. The Obama
Administration has proposed an investment of $10 billion in additional
funding over 10 years to improve our Child Nutrition Programs. This
proposed investment would significantly reduce the barriers that keep
children from participating in school nutrition programs, improve the
quality of school meals and the health of the school environment, and
enhance program performance. This is a once in every 5 year opportunity
to modernize the core Child Nutrition Programs: the National School
Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), the Summer Food
Service Program (SFSP), the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP),
the Special Milk Program (SMP), and WIC.
We can improve access to meals and explore new means of empowering
communities to reduce food insecurity and hunger, especially among our
children. We can make every school a place where nutrition and learning
shape the food offered by improving the quality of meals, eliminating
foods that do not support healthful choices, and expanding physical
activity opportunities. We can help pregnant women, new mothers, and
the youngest children receive the support they need for an optimally
healthy start, and support working families using child care, by
providing nutritious food for their children, to help them deal with
the challenges of today's economy. This is the power of these
programs--and the opportunity we share to harness that power for a
better future.
The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs provide
nutritious meals to 31 million school children in over 101,000 schools
throughout the nation. Improving the food choices that children have,
and that they actually make, at school are central to our efforts to
improve their diets and address the obesity crisis. Work is already
underway to improve the nutrition standards for the school meals
programs, based on recommendations we received from an Institute of
Medicine expert panel late last year that proposed more fruits,
vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products in school menus. To
complement this effort, we are working with the Agricultural Marketing
Service to examine ways to improve Farm to School efforts across the
county. Our team is learning from successful school districts to see
how they have matched local production with the needs of the school
meal programs. If we can increase farm income and at the same time
educate school children that food indeed comes from the farm and the
farmer, we will have accomplished two important objectives
simultaneously.
To help people make wise dietary choices, USDA's MyPyramid.gov
provides dietary guidance and educational materials that help Americans
improve their diet and become more physically active. MyPyramid helps
Americans personalize their approach to choosing a healthier lifestyle
that balances nutrition and exercise. It encourages them to improve
their overall health significantly by making modest improvements to
their diet and by incorporating regular physical activity into their
daily lives. MyPyramid, which translates the recommendations of the
Dietary Guidelines for Americans into accessible and useful information
for the general public, continues to be a significant means of helping
Americans take ``Steps to a Healthier You.''
Nutrition education is also provided in many of the nutrition
assistance programs. For example, the goal of SNAP nutrition education,
or SNAP-Ed, is to improve the likelihood that persons eligible for SNAP
benefits will make healthy food choices within a limited budget and
choose physically active lifestyles consistent with the Dietary
Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid. In partnership with the 52 SNAP
state agencies that provide SNAP-Ed, nearly 100 organizations such as
Cooperative Extension Service outlets, nutrition networks, health
departments, and food banks, provide nutrition education through
hundreds of projects. A study is currently underway to identify models
of effective SNAP-Ed nutrition education and their impacts on nutrition
related behaviors. In addition, FNS provides free nutrition education
resources including a recipe finder with over 600 easy, tasty, and low
cost recipes, materials designed for Spanish speaking mothers, and
materials designed for older adults.
Participants in programs like SNAP need not only need the EBT cards
to purchase healthy food and the knowledge to make healthy choices but
they also need access to stores where healthy foods are plentiful. As
of September 30, 2009, there were 193,754 firms authorized to
participate in SNAP.
Currently, to be eligible to participate in SNAP, stores must sell
food for home preparation and consumption and meet one of the following
criteria:
(A) Offer for sale, on a continuous basis (any given day of
operation), at least three varieties of qualifying foods in
each of the following four staple food groups, with perishable
foods in at least two of the categories: meat, poultry or fish;
bread or cereal; vegetables or fruits; or dairy products.
(B) More than 50 percent of the total dollar amount of all things
(food, nonfood, gas and services) sold in the store must be
from the sale of eligible staple foods.
Over the past 6 years, the number of authorized firms has increased
27 percent. Over 85 percent of all benefits are redeemed at 20 percent
of authorized stores, such as supermarkets and superstores that offer a
substantial variety of staple foods including fruits and vegetables. In
the near future, we expect to release a new tool that will help clients
find the SNAP authorized stores near their home or workplace, providing
them with additional information to help access healthy food options.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, also known as the
2008 Farm Bill, authorized $20 million for projects to evaluate health
and nutrition promotion in SNAP to determine if incentives provided to
SNAP recipients at the point-of-sale increase the consumption of
fruits, vegetables, or other healthful foods. At USDA, we call this the
Healthy Incentive Pilot project (HIP). The legislation requires that
``[the] independent evaluation . . . use rigorous methodologies,
particularly random assignment . . .'' USDA will implement a randomized
control evaluation approach which will allow for comparison between the
groups that receive the incentive and those that don't in order to
determine the impacts of HIP. This research design provides the rigor
necessary to attribute any changes in fruit and vegetable consumption
to the incentive. The evaluation will also assess HIP's impacts on the
state SNAP agency and its partners and describe the procedures involved
in planning, implementing and operating the pilot. The competitive
solicitations for both the project evaluator and the pilot sites were
recently released.
Increasing the number of farmers' market authorized to accept SNAP
benefits is another way to improve access to healthful foods. It is a
top priority at USDA. Farmers' market participation in SNAP is a win-
win situation for local farmers who expand their customer base and for
participants who gain access to healthy produce. In Fiscal Year 2009,
over 900 farmers and farmers' markets were authorized to accept SNAP
benefits, an increase of 25 percent over the prior year. FNS has a goal
to authorize an additional 200 farmers' markets each year. To aid in
this effort, the President's Budget for 2011 includes a proposal for $4
million to provide farmers markets with SNAP EBT equipment.
Our sister agency, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), offers
the Farmers' Market Promotion Program which provides grants that
encourage and support expansion of farmers markets. The authorizing
statute requires at least ten percent of grant funds to be directed
towards projects to support the use of EBT for Federal nutrition
programs at farmers markets. This program has helped many markets
overcome barriers to purchasing equipment and become SNAP authorized.
To further support FNS's priority of increasing the number of SNAP
authorized farmers' markets, we've recently made a number of
improvements to streamline the process for farmers' markets seeking
SNAP authorization. This new guidance reduces administrative burdens on
the state agencies while streamlining the authorization process for
farmers' markets. This information is posted on our web page. Farmers'
markets are often the center of the community and are an excellent
venue for outreach and nutrition education. Farmers' markets offer a
place to educate potential clients about the benefits of participation
in SNAP. USDA encourages state SNAP officials to incorporate farmers'
markets in outreach and nutrition education efforts.
Farmers' market incentive programs also encourage healthy eating.
Such projects provide matching ``bonus dollars'' for purchases made
with SNAP benefits. The incentives, funded by private foundations,
nonprofit organizations and local governments, improve the purchasing
power of low-income SNAP participants at farmers' markets so they can
buy more fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods.
Farmers' markets play a key role in access to healthy foods in the
WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) and in the Senior Farmers'
Market Nutrition Program. During Fiscal Year 2008, 2.3 million WIC
recipients and 964,000 seniors received coupons redeemable at farmers'
markets. A variety of fresh, nutritious, unprepared, locally grown
fruits, vegetables and herbs may be purchased with FMNP coupons. In
addition, seniors can purchase honey.
While the growth in authorized retailers and farmers' markets is a
good sign that most SNAP recipients have access to food retailers,
there remain issues to be addressed. First and foremost, we need to ask
to what extent those stores offer the healthy food choices that SNAP
participants need and want. Second, we need better information to
determine whether areas with limited access have inadequate access.
Better measures of access, information on food prices, and data on the
relative availability of all food types, not just healthy food items
are needed to authoritatively describe food deserts. And, finally, how
can we encourage changes to make healthy food more readily available in
such areas? USDA stands ready to explore all of these areas through
research, analysis, and eventually, policy, if needed.
As I mentioned before, the Healthy Incentive Pilot is one effort
that will contribute greatly to our knowledge in this area. If the
incentive does entice more demand for healthful foods, it should
increase the desire of retailers to stock such items. It is too soon to
speculate what effect this might have on food deserts, but it is worth
noting that such an incentive may well play a positive role.
The President's Fiscal Year 2011 budget makes available over $400
million in financial and technical assistance to bring grocery stores
and other healthy food retailers to food deserts. This effort is known
as the Healthy Food Financing Initiative and is a partnership between
the Departments of Treasury, Health and Human Services and Agriculture
designed to eliminate food deserts within the next 7 years. The
objectives of this effort are to increase access to healthy and
affordable food choices in underserved urban and rural communities,
help reduce the high incidence of diet related diseases, create jobs
and economic development, and establish market opportunities for
farmers and ranchers. The Healthy Food Financing Initiative will expand
access to nutritious foods by developing and equipping grocery stores
and other healthy food retailers in communities that currently lack
these options.
At the same time, we look forward to the contributions of our
partners in private industry and the advocacy community and to learning
more about their creative approaches to addressing this problem.
Improving access in the areas where choice is limited is a challenge,
but it is one we must undertake if we are to solve our dual problems of
food insecurity and obesity.
In the Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Service mission area at USDA,
our role is also to make sure that all low income people who are
eligible are enrolled in the nutrition assistance programs to provide
them with the supplement to their food budget that enables the purchase
of healthy foods. As such, access to the Federal nutrition assistance
programs remains a top priority.
Despite record participation in SNAP, totaling more than 39 million
participants in January 2010, there remain underserved populations--
while the participation rate among all eligible was 66 percent in 2007,
less than \1/3\ of eligible elderly participate and only 56 percent of
eligible Hispanics participate. And this is why outreach remains a
critical component of our access efforts. The most common reason that
eligible people don't participate is because they don't know they are
eligible. Therefore, in order to maximize participation in SNAP, USDA
conducts direct marketing activities, and provides funding, and
outreach materials as well as technical assistance to public
organizations, including state SNAP agencies, as well as neighborhood
and faith based organizations that conduct SNAP outreach and marketing
efforts.
FNS has a multitude of free outreach materials, some designed
specifically for seniors, and most available in English and Spanish to
help people recognize their potential eligibility and raise awareness
about the nutrition benefits of SNAP. Materials include brochures,
flyers, posters, and radio and television public service announcements.
An online pre-screening tool in English and Spanish lets the user know
if they might be eligible for benefits and how much they might receive.
FNS also operates a toll free number in English and Spanish that
provides callers with information about the program. Each year, FNS
uses radio advertising in English and Spanish, to reach low income
people in underserved areas. Finally, FNS has awarded outreach grants
to neighborhood and faith-based organizations to support development
and implementation of promising outreach strategies to reach low income
seniors and Latinos.
At the same time, we need to make sure that we simplify the
application process, remove barriers to participation and provide the
highest quality customer service. In SNAP, states have a variety of
policy options available to improve access. Currently, 31 states use
broad-based categorical eligibility to raise the gross income limits
and raise or eliminate asset tests in SNAP. Such efforts make the
program available to families with low incomes and modest assets as
well as those with high expenses but gross incomes slightly higher than
the normal gross income test. I strongly encourage all states to
implement this policy. States are also using telephone interviews in
place of face to face interview and tailoring the length of interviews
to specific questions to reduce the burdens on clients and state staff.
Through direct certification, children who are eligible for free
meals because their households are approved for SNAP benefits are
identified. Annually, USDA reports to Congress on direct certification
and have gained insight into what works best by talking to staff who
manage direct certification in their state. From the most recent report
which was issued in October 2009 we focused on those states who had the
greatest improvement in the percentages of children who were directly
certified and asked how they did it. We will be promoting these best
practices and others through the direct certification grants ($22
million) provided through the FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Act.
USDA also works hard to improve what we offer directly to program
participants in the commodity programs. We have reduced the fat, sodium
and sugar in the USDA foods being offered and will continue to make
improvements on an ongoing basis.
The WIC food packages were recently revised to reflect
recommendations by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and more closely
align with the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and infant feeding
guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The changes, which
promote healthier options for WIC participants by adding fruits,
vegetables, and whole grains, and emphasizing low-fat milk, may also
benefit the larger community by increasing the availability of
nutritious food options in small grocery stores and corner stores.
In closing, the Obama Administration is committed to improving the
Federal nutrition assistance programs and to assuring that those in
need have access to program benefits, the knowledge to make wise food
choices with those benefits, and that retailers are accessible so that
participants have access to healthy foods in their communities. I would
be happy to answer any questions you might have and, again, thank you
for the opportunity to speak on this issue today.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Concannon.
Next I would like to call on Dr. Michelle Ver Ploeg.
STATEMENT OF MICHELE ``SHELLY'' VER PLOEG, Ph.D.,
ECONOMIST, ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE, U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Dr. Ver Ploeg. Good morning. Thank you, Chairman Baca,
Ranking Member Fortenberry, and Members of the Subcommittee for
allowing me to testify today on the issue of access to
affordable and nutritious food.
Increases in obesity rates and diet-related diseases are
major public health problems. These problems may be worse in
some American communities because they lack access to
nutritious foods. It was this concern that led Congress in the
2008 Farm Bill to direct the USDA to conduct a 1 year study of
food deserts or areas, especially low-income areas that have
limited access to affordable and nutritious food. The USDA was
directed to assess the extent of the problem, to identify
causes and characteristics of areas that might be considered
food deserts, to determine how limited access affects local
populations and to outline recommendations to address the
problem. The findings of the study were released in a report
last June and can be found on the ERS website.
My testimony today will just summarize a few brief key
findings of the report. To conduct the analysis of food
deserts, a comprehensive database was developed that identified
the location of supermarkets and large grocery stores within
the continental U.S. Food access was estimated as the distance
to the nearest supermarket or large grocery store. The analysis
also examined households without vehicles and specific socio-
demographic subpopulations drawn from the 2000 Census. Overall,
the findings show that access to affordable and nutritious food
is a problem for a small but significant share of the national
population. Of all households in the U.S., 2.3 million, or 2.2
percent, live more than a mile from a supermarket and do not
have access to a vehicle. An additional 3.4 million households,
or 3.2 percent of all households, live between \1/2\ mile and 1
mile and do not have access to a vehicle.
Area-based measures of access show that 23.5 million people
live in low-income areas that are more than 1 mile from a
supermarket or large grocery store and that low-income areas
are defined as areas where more than 40 percent of the
population has income at or below 200 percent of Federal
poverty levels. However, not all of these 23.5 million people
are defined as low-income. If estimates are restricted,
consider only the low-income people in low-income areas, then
11.5 million, or 4.1 percent of the total U.S. population,
lives in low-income areas more than a mile from a supermarket.
A related concern is that poor households pay more for the
same goods because they cannot access lower-priced retailers
and thus rely on smaller, often higher-priced stores. To
address this question, USDA analyzed the household level data
on food items purchased by approximately 40,000 demographically
represented households across the U.S. These data were used to
examine differences in prices paid for the same food items
across households with different income levels. Results show
that low- and middle-income households are more likely to
purchase food at supercenters where prices are lower. But
results also indicate that the very poorest households, those
earning less than $8,000 a year, may pay between half a percent
and 1.3 percent more for their groceries than households that
earn slightly more; that is, households earning between $8,000
and $30,000, who tend to pay the least for groceries among all
income groups.
Many studies find a correlation between limited access and
lower intake of nutritious foods. These studies, however, are
not sufficiently robust to establish a causal link between
access and nutritional outcomes; that is, other explanations
cannot be eliminated as a primary cause of lower intake of
nutritious food. Access to affordable and nutritious food
depends on supply, availability, and consumer demand.
Understanding the market conditions that contribute to
differences in access to food is critical to understanding
which policy interventions may be effective in reducing access
limitations. If high development costs for stores limit
supermarkets in some areas, these subsidy programs or
restructured zoning policies may promote new stores. If
consumer demand factors, like inadequate knowledge of the
nutritional benefits of specific foods, contributes to
differences in access, then a public health campaign may also
be a preferred strategy.
Since the USDA report was released, ERS has developed a
comprehensive mapping tool that allows users to examine food
store availability and a number of other indicators of the food
environment for each county in the continental U.S. This is
called the Food Environment Atlas, and the Food Environmental
Atlas is a recognition of how factors such as store proximity,
food prices, food and nutrition assistance programs and
community characteristics interact to influence food choices
and diet quality.
The Food Environment Atlas assembles statistics on three
broad categories of food environment indicators: food choices,
health and well-being, and community characteristics. The
online atlas currently contains 90 indicators of the food
environment and is available to the public. Most of the data
are at the county level. A user can select an indicator--for
example, the prevalence of obesity--and create a map showing
variation in that indicator among counties across the U.S. or
across the state. The atlas also allows users to get data on
any and all county indicators for a particular county. The
atlas is at the ERS website.
Again, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to
appear before you today and I look forward to answering any
questions.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Ver Ploeg follows:]
Prepared Statement of Michele ``Shelly'' Ver Ploeg, Ph.D.,
Economist, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D.C.
Chairman Baca, Ranking Member Fortenberry, and Members of the
Subcommittee, I would like to thank you for allowing me to testify
before you today on the issue of access to affordable and nutritious
food.
Increases in obesity rates and diet-related diseases are major
public health problems. These problems may be worse in some American
communities because they lack access to affordable and nutritious
foods. Previous studies suggest that some areas and households have
easy access to fast food restaurants and convenience stores, but less
access to supermarkets and larger grocery stores that provide more
nutritious and varied selections. Differences in access may make some
communities more reliant on stores and restaurants that offer fewer
healthy food choices, such as convenience stores or food marts at gas
stations. Limited access to nutritious food and relatively easier
access to less nutritious foods may be linked to poor diets and
ultimately to obesity and diet-related diseases.
Concerned that some households lack access to affordable and
nutritious food, Congress, in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of
2008, directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to conduct a 1
year study of `food deserts'. The USDA was directed to assess the
extent of the problem of limited access, identify characteristics and
causes, consider how limited access affects local populations, and
outline recommendations to address the problem. The findings of the
study are given in detail in a report entitled Access to Affordable and
Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their
Consequences, which was released in June 2009 and can be found at
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/AP/AP036/. My testimony today
summarizes the key findings of the report.
Methods
Economic analysis was conducted on the extent, determinants, and
consequences of food deserts. A variety of data and methods were used
to assess the extent of limited access to affordable and nutritious
food. To conduct the analysis of the prevalence of food deserts, a
comprehensive database was developed that identified the location of
supermarkets and large grocery stores within the continental U.S. Food
access was estimated as the distance to the nearest supermarket or
large grocery store. The analysis was refined by examining households
without vehicles and specific socio-demographic subpopulations drawn
from the 2000 Census. The key determinants of areas with low access to
supermarkets and large grocery stores were also analyzed.
Research also examined national-level data on questions of
household food adequacy and access from the 2001 Current Population
Survey. This information was complemented with national-level data on
time spent traveling to grocery stores from the 2003-2007 American Time
Use Survey. To consider the economic consequences of limited access,
ERS also analyzed demand for certain nutritious foods for a sample of
participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
using data from the National Food Stamp Program Survey (NFSPS) of 1996/
1997. Variation in prices for similar foods purchased at different
store types was also estimated.
Measuring and Characterizing Areas With Limited Access
Overall, findings show that access to affordable and nutritious
food is a problem for a small but significant share of the national
population. Urban core areas with low access are characterized by
higher levels of racial dissimilarity and income inequality. Lack of
transportation infrastructure is the most defining characteristic of
small towns and rural areas with low access.
Direct questions from a nationally representative survey of U.S.
households conducted in 2001 show that nearly six percent of all U.S.
households did not always have the food they wanted or enough food
because of access-related limitations. More than \1/2\ of these
households also lacked enough money for food. It is unclear whether
food access or income constraints were relatively greater barriers for
these households.
Households that live far from a supermarket or large grocery store
and without easy access to transportation will have more limited access
to affordable and nutritious food. Of all households in the U.S., 2.3
million, or 2.2 percent live more than a mile from a supermarket and do
not have access to a vehicle. An additional 3.4 million households, or
3.2 percent of all households, live between \1/2\ to 1 mile and do not
have access to a vehicle.
Area-based measures of access show that 23.5 million people live in
low-income areas (areas where more than 40 percent of the population
has income at or below 200 percent of Federal poverty thresholds) that
are more than 1 mile from a supermarket or large grocery store.
However, not all of these 23.5 million people are defined as low-
income. If estimates are restricted to consider only the low-income
people in low-income areas, then 11.5 million or 4.1 percent of the
total U.S. population lives in low-income areas more than 1 mile from a
supermarket.
Economic Consequences
A related concern is that poorer households pay more for the same
goods because they cannot access lower-priced retailers and thus, are
more likely to purchase their goods in smaller, higher-priced stores.
Past research on food prices was unable to match data on prices paid
with the households that actually make the purchases. As a result,
prior work focused on inferring the linkages between prices paid and
household characteristics.
The analysis conducted for this study uses proprietary household-
level data that contain information on food items purchased by
approximately 40,000 demographically representative households across
the United States. These data on household food purchases were used to
examine differences in prices paid for milk, ready-to-eat cereal, and
bread at supermarkets, convenience, discount, and other types of
stores. Results show that consumers pay more for these goods at
convenience stores than at supermarkets, holding constant
characteristics of consumers such as income and education and
characteristics of the products, such as size and fat content.
Other research, however, shows low- and middle-income households
are more likely to purchase food at supercenters, where prices are
lower. Results also indicate that while some of the very poorest
households--those earning less than $8,000 per year--may pay between
0.5 percent and 1.3 percent more for their groceries than households
earning slightly more, households earning between $8,000 and $30,000
tend to pay the least for groceries, whereas higher-income households
pay significantly more.
How food store access is related to food shopping behavior, food
purchasing and the prices paid for specific foods was also examined.
The results show that most low-income consumers are able to access
supermarkets, albeit with higher travel costs for those living farther
away. For those with limited access to supermarkets, the results
suggest that these consumers make fewer purchases of certain kinds of
nutritious foods.
Dietary Behavior and Health Outcomes
Many studies find a correlation between limited food access and
lower intake of nutritious foods. These studies, however, are not
sufficiently robust to establish a causal link between access and
nutritional outcomes. That is, other explanations cannot be eliminated
as significant contributory causes of lower intake of nutritious food.
A few studies have examined food intake before and after healthy
options become available (either within existing stores or because new
stores open). The findings are mixed--some show a small but positive
increase in consumption of fruits and vegetables, while others show no
effect.
Policy Considerations
Access to affordable and nutritious food depends on supply
(availability) and consumer demand. Understanding the market conditions
that contribute to differences in access to food is critical to
understanding which policy interventions may be effective in reducing
access limitations. Consumer behavior and preferences and other factors
related to the demand for some foods may lead to differences in what
foods are offered where. Food retailer behavior and supply side issues
such as higher costs to developing stores in underserved areas may also
explain variation across areas in which foods are offered and what
stores offer them. If high development costs for stores limit
supermarkets in some areas, then subsidy programs or restructured
zoning policies may promote new stores in areas of low access. If
consumer demand factors, like inadequate knowledge of the nutritional
benefits of specific foods, contribute to differences in access by
reducing demand, then a public health campaign may be a preferred
strategy. Several local and state level efforts are underway that could
provide the basis to understanding which types of interventions work
best I would note, as well, that the President's FY 2011 Budget
proposes a healthy food financing initiative to address the issue of
food deserts. This initiative includes funds for USDA activities.
Food Access Research Continues at USDA
The current state of research is insufficient to conclusively
determine whether some areas with limited access to certain kinds of
food stores have inadequate access to nutritious food. Future research
should consider improved methods to measure access levels,
availability, and prices of foods faced by individuals and areas. The
recently developed U.S. Food Environment Atlas at USDA provides a more
comprehensive set of measures of access.
The basis of the U.S. Food Environment Atlas is a recognition that
factors--such as store/restaurant proximity, food prices, food and
nutrition assistance programs, and community characteristics--interact
to influence food choices and diet quality. The Food Environment Atlas,
developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, assembles statistics
on three broad categories of food environment indicators.
Food Choices.
Health and Well-Being.
Community characteristics.
The online Atlas currently contains 90 indicators of the food
environment and is available to the public. Most of the data are on the
county level. A user can select an indicator--e.g., the prevalence of
obesity--and create a map showing variation in that indicator among
counties across the United States or across a state. Atlas users can
identify counties with a combination of indicators--for example, those
with persistent child poverty as well as high numbers of residents with
limited access to grocery stores. The Atlas also allows users to get
data on any and all of the county-level indicators for a particular
county. The Atlas can be found at the following website: http://
www.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today,
and I look forward to answering any questions.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
Again, I would like to thank both of the witnesses for
their testimony.
At this time, I will begin with asking questions. Each of
the Members will be allowed 5 minutes. I now recognize myself
for 5 minutes and then will recognize the Ranking Member and
the other individuals, as I called them earlier, for questions.
I will begin by first thanking Under Secretary Concannon again
for being here this morning.
And I will begin with the first question. Do you think that
the current criteria stores must meet in order to be eligible
to receive the SNAP benefit goes far enough to ensure that
these stores will carry fresh foods?
Mr. Concannon. Mr. Chairman, thank you for that question.
As I mentioned in my testimony, there are now 193,000 stores
across the country that have been approved to process benefits
in the SNAP Program, and about 80 percent of those stores are a
supermarket that provides a wide variety of food products. So I
have no concerns whatsoever about the supermarket portion of
it. The 20 percent, a majority of stores, the smallest stores
in the 20 percent as well, provide those range of foods, but I
am concerned that it has been reported to me, at least
anecdotally, that we have in some parts of the country, stores
that are small and really just meet the minimum, but don't
provide that much by range of options for the food groups. So,
it is one of those items that deserves consideration in the
upcoming reauthorization of the farm bill.
The Chairman. Thank you. And can you describe to the
Subcommittee the operating process for the Healthy Food
Financing Initiative proposed by the Obama Administration?
Mr. Concannon. Mr. Chairman, the Healthy Food Financing
Initiative is one that is actually hosted at USDA and another
one of the mission areas. But it is targeting--I can speak to
it generally. It involves both the Department of Health and
Human Services, the Department of the Treasury, and USDA. And
there was a budget request pending for 2011 for $400 million.
And the intent of that $400 million is to target food deserts
across the country, cities as well as rural areas, reflecting,
again, some of the targeting what the research here identified
in terms of deserts. And this would be a combination of both
grants, loans, incentives to create capacity over a period of
years in these food deserts.
And as was mentioned in the testimony heard here this
morning, often the smallest stores or the food deserts, people
not only have a harder time to obtain food, but they may likely
pay more for it when they can. It is an effort to really
institutionally attack that issue.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Michelle Ver Ploeg, it seems clear from your testimony that
the USDA study was unable to establish a causal link between
limited food access and lower intake of nutritious food. But
even without the concrete data, everyone in this room
understands the importance of access to nutritious food.
In your opinion, how significant is the connection between
the lack of access to healthy food and obesity?
Dr. Ver Ploeg. Thank you for that question. As we know,
about \1/3\ of the population of the U.S. is obese and another
third is overweight. So clearly there is something bigger going
on than just lack of access. However, for people that do lack
access, it seems necessary that they--if we want them to eat
healthier diets, it would be necessary for them to get those
foods. So access, to me, is a necessary condition for improving
people's diets, but it is not going to solve all of the
problems of obesity in our country.
The Chairman. Access is one thing, but education is
another. And so we need to address it from an educational
perspective, because you can have access to nutritional foods,
but if you must also be educated and know the impact of
unhealthy foods. So do you have any ideas or comments in terms
of how we can do the kind of outreach and education?
Dr. Ver Ploeg. So one of the items that Under Secretary
Concannon reported on was the Healthy Incentive Program that is
not targeted to the general population but targeted to SNAP
participants. And the idea behind that is to encourage
promoting fruit and vegetable consumption by giving discounts.
That is one way that could be used to promote healthier eating.
There are also public health campaigns. I know there is
talk of labeling that could help people have better information
on how many calories are in the foods they are consuming. Those
are the sorts of things that would obviously change peoples
choices and perhaps their demands for foods. And I should say
price is always a big consumer demand determinant.
The Chairman. Right. Labeling becomes very important
because of the products that you are buying. If people know
what they are buying, and its origin, they can assess potential
health affects. For example, our country has requirements that
are a lot stricter than some of the other countries. Is that
correct?
Dr. Ver Ploeg. That is an area that is out of my realm of
knowledge, so I will have to pass on that.
The Chairman. Mr. Concannon.
Mr. Concannon. Mr. Chairman, to your question, one, there
are a number of activities focused in the educational arena
that we are a part of, both targeted at SNAP recipients to so-
called SNAP education aspects of it. But also our efforts with
schools across the country, we are very mindful these days as
the Child Nutrition Act is being reauthorized of the
opportunity we have to influence children in the school years,
and not limit that education to the hour or the half hour in
the cafeteria, but to really impact the culture of the school.
The USDA has something called HealthierUS School Challenge,
of which there are more than 600 schools that I visited in
different parts of--not the 600, I visited about half a dozen
of them, I should say, across the country. They are model
schools where, again, the nutritional quality is of the
highest, the fruits and vegetables that were referenced by one
of the Members here this morning in attending a school in his
area, but competitive foods are outlawed in those schools and
there is a focus on exercise. So I have been in schools where,
again, it isn't limited to the cafeteria. It is made part of
the math program; how many calories in a particular food, how
do you measure, how much volume in a portion of food, where it
is part of the physical ed activities, where I have actually
seen children and heard the teachers talking about food while
kids are exercising and it was--they are all smiling faces.
It wasn't like visiting the Quantico Marine Base here, as I
reflect on it. But even the art programs all focus on healthy
foods.
So, it is the conjoining of education, of culture, all of
these things. And we think children, to the extent that
children--the analogy I often think of are the efforts to
reduce smoking in this country. It wasn't any one single thing.
It was a variety of initiatives that ultimately succeeded in
reducing smoking.
I think, similarly on the issue of obesity, it is going to
be access to healthier foods, more transparency, better
education, lower amounts of processed foods and getting us to
realize that bigger isn't necessarily better.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Concannon. I know
that I have a series of additional questions that I will submit
for the record. And hopefully you will be able to respond later
on to some of these questions.
But at this time, I would like to call on the Ranking
Member, Mr. Fortenberry, from Nebraska.
Mr. Fortenberry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It wasn't a long
time ago where many of us were in the 4-H Program. We pledged
our heads to clearer thinking and our heart to greater loyalty,
hands to larger service, and, guess what, health to better
living. It is not too long ago when we all said that pretty
much regularly, those of us who had the opportunity to be in
that extraordinary program. I think it is important to remind
ourselves that one of the most pervasive, as well as
traditional USDA programs, is the Cooperative Extension
Service. And as we try to unpack the operational mechanics of
how we move forward, whether it is on education or new
programmatic implementation--and I want to turn to the Healthy
Food Financing Initiative shortly--the traditional structures
of USDA--that USDA can provide. I think that is very important
that we not lose sight of, particularly as we are looking at
new initiatives that might in a time of real budgetary
constraints have to be fitted in or resources shifted to them
that may be better applied as we move forward.
In that regard, regarding the financing initiative, you
covered a little bit of that ground, given the Chairman's
question, and you anticipated, Mr. Chairman, in that regard.
But I would like to hear a little bit more about how you
perceive the implementation of that program to occur. You said
grants, loans to build capacity to fill in the gaps of food
deserts. But is this not all worked through yet? It is a broad
policy framework that is under consideration. I would like to
hear you unpack that further.
Mr. Concannon. Yes. Thank you for that question. My
awareness of it and knowledge it of is just at the 50,000 foot
level, if that. It is in a separate area of the USDA that is
engaged in another mission area, not food nutrition per se. And
I know that dialogue and those conversations are taking place
between, again, the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, and USDA. But I am not directly involved in
that.
Mr. Fortenberry. But you see the USDA as being the primary
driver of this and having the capacity to develop whatever loan
program might develop or particular grant program, I assume?
Mr. Concannon. Yes. It is my understanding the budget
request of that $400 million, about $150 million is associated
with the USDA. The other $250 million, a larger part of that is
over in the Treasury Department, and then a portion of it also
at Health and Human Services. So we really, with this kind of
research of course, are informing the strategies that will be
pursued, it is important to note. But the actual mechanics of
implementation are areas in which I nor will our mission area
be directly involved in that.
Mr. Fortenberry. It is important to use the hearing to
highlight the point that we have extraordinary structures in
USDA that are countrywide, in every county effectively in the
country. And so there is always a tendency with a new idea to
add it on. But perhaps fitting it within the current frameworks
of what we already have may be an efficient use of what may
very well be a powerful new idea to fill in these gaps of
capacity.
Mr. Concannon. I think to that, Congressman--your
question--I think the intent is clearly that, not to create a
new structure within USDA. It is in Rural Development--is the
mission area that I think will have primary responsibility in
USDA. So there is not an intent on our part to create a new
division per se.
Mr. Fortenberry. Thank you.
Let us turn quickly to, again, what has been touched on a
bit, but the evidence that underserved areas will actually
purchase more fruits and vegetables, given a supply of them,
touch on the research that is available.
Dr. Ver Ploeg. There is quite a bit of research that shows
that areas that may be considered food deserts, there is an
association between low purchase of healthy foods and living in
those areas. We don't have great causal evidence that shows
that might be more than an association. There is some evidence,
from small studies where they opened up small stores or within
a convenience store, have brought in some--just a shelf of
precut vegetables and fruits--there are a few formative studies
that show some encouraging signs, but those are very formative.
The best evidence we have on supermarket openings comes from
the U.K. So it may not be relative to the U.S., but it shows
that in areas where a new store has opened, people have
increased their consumption, but not by a great deal. That is
the only evidence we have right now.
Mr. Fortenberry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Fortenberry.
I would like to call on the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr.
Kagen.
Mr. Kagen. Thank you, Chairman. And thank you both for
coming here this morning to present us with your ideas and your
concerns and what you have been doing. I have just a few
questions.
In the farm bill, I put forward an amendment that was
supported by the Republicans and the Democrats for $30 million
of funding for a Childhood Obesity Program. Before we can
consider funding any of the requests that you have, can you
please tell me what you have done with the $30 million for the
Childhood Obesity Program?
Mr. Concannon. I think we would have to get back to you,
Congressman, because I am not familiar with it off the top of
my head, and my colleague here said we will have to get back to
you very directly.
I can speak generally on some of the strategies we have
around reducing childhood obesity. One, I really want to make
clear that there is--I have spent most of my career in state
government I should say, but there is, I believe, unprecedented
levels of cross Federal agency collaboration and cooperation
underway. And we have persons detailed to us from the Centers
for Disease Control in Atlanta where they have a major project
on reducing--studying and reducing obesity. There has been much
collaboration between the USDA, the FDA, the Federal Trade
Commission and the CDC around the issue of marketing of foods
to children between the ages of 2 and 17. And a report is
forthcoming that will come to you, Members of Congress, by the
15th of July, as directed in that farm bill. So those are just
some areas.
The HealthierUS Schools Challenge, we are very much in the
middle of that. And the First Lady's program, Let's Move, has a
number of elements that are both associated with transparency
or educating parents about foods, but also encouraging
activity.
As I am sure you know, the problem of obesity is not just a
function of the foods we ingest, but it is how little exercise
people use, and there is a worry about the number of so-called
hours that children are now spending either before a screen or
television screen or a computer screen that concern us.
So at a meeting I was at last Friday where Secretary Duncan
from Education was present, he spoke to the concern of the
diminished number of recess hours or activity hours that
schools are experiencing these days. So it is some of both. So
when we meet with schools, there is a requirement from the last
farm bill for wellness policies in schools.
Mr. Kagen. I understand that. I don't mean to have you
occupy all of my time on that subject, but the answer you have
given me is inadequate. I am happy that you are going to look
into it. It was 2007, 2008. The money is there. The intent was
there. And so you have the language, you have the
appropriation, you have the money. And we would like to
consider other programs. But, by golly, we are interested to
know what you did with the $30 million that was specifically
targeted at this childhood obesity epidemic. Not during the
current Administration, but this is several years ago.
So, thank you. And I am quite certain you are going to get
back to me as rapidly as you can. Food has become not just an
essential ingredient to life, but as an entertainment factor.
And your real competition is--you are suggesting that the
Administration is interested in crafting language that would
limit the manner in which a business entity could market its
goods to children; am I correct?
Mr. Concannon. That report is coming from 4--and the
Federal Trade Commission is leading that effort. But we have
been actively participating with them on it. We were very
supportive of the----
Mr. Kagen. Thank you very much. And in the interest of
time, one of the other hurdles that our farmers have in terms
of growing locally grown products and getting them into a
school system is the price competition from the major food
manufacturers who receive subsidies from the USDA and from our
government. And it is very difficult for locally grown food to
get into the school system because of that price competition.
I would hope at a further time you could give me some very
specific ways in which you hope to move around that price
barrier. And I will just remind all of you how difficult this
is. In 1966, when I first entered politics, I was elected to be
the most trusted person in my high school. I was the Student
Council Treasurer. We had $253. There was no committee. It was
just me. So I took it upon myself to purchase for $250 an Apple
machine, and I put it in the hallway. Being a sophomore in high
school, I went to track practice after a period, and all the
seniors told me, ``Kagen, forget about politics, man, we wanted
a Coca-Cola' machine. Don't run for Student Council
President.''
So I ducked out of politics and then, some years later,
left my medical practice and came to the House. So now I am
going back into these schools and I am taking out the
carbohydrates and putting back the fruits and vegetables. I
know what is going to happen. People won't like the texture and
the taste. And it is a very competitive marketplace out there.
But I will work very hard with you to find a way in which we
can make it easier for our locally grown foods to appear at the
cafeterias in our schools. Please get back to me as rapidly as
possible on the $30 million that I secured in the farm bill for
the Obesity Program.
I yield back my time.
The Chairman. Next, I would like to call on the gentleman
from Oregon, Mr. Schrader.
Mr. Schrader. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would just like a
response to the food hub question I talked about in my opening
statement, to the extent that the Department is aware of that
nonprofit initiative in the Northwest--because it is spreading
regionally--and if there are opportunities for similar
partnerships to develop across the country. Are there matching
dollars or incentives that could help broaden that program?
Mr. Concannon. I am not aware of that specific project in
Portland. I am aware that Oregon is one of the leading states
in the country on a variety of issues related to SNAP or to
WIC, our nutrition programs. But there are and will be
opportunities for programs like that to both be supported and
to be disseminated in the Child Nutrition Act and in our budget
that is before Congress.
There are proposals to fund the team, a national team, and
to put resources with it for helping farm-to-school, as an
example, to increase the access and to try to deal with some of
the questions that have been raised on the logistics or ease of
bringing these healthier foods into schools, as one example.
Mr. Schrader. As a new Member of Congress not as familiar
with the SNAP Program as many others, and slightly aware that,
obviously, there are certain foods you can buy with your EBT
card and some not, I would assume that we are at a level of
sophistication where we can actually require the foods that are
purchased with that card to not be above a certain carbohydrate
or fat level. Is that being looked at at all?
Mr. Concannon. Not at this time. The actual SNAP Program,
the limitations on food are cooked food. Uncooked foods, the
person may use their card for that. We think one of the most
promising ways of dealing with the foods that SNAP recipients
purchase--by the way, the evidence is they don't make very
different purchases from the rest of us who may have more
financial resources--is to both rely upon the SNAP education
program and to see what happens in several of these pilots that
Congress has funded for us where we are incenting--we are
creating some incentives for people to buy healthier foods.
Also in the budget that is before Congress for next year, the
President has proposed $4 million for us to be able to equip
every farmers market in the country with wireless technology,
because that is one of the major barriers to be able to use
your EBT card, farmers markets that don't have electrification.
Mr. Schrader. Last question, actually, for Dr. Ver Ploeg.
It would seem pretty clear from the study that you performed
that access to supermarkets is not the issue. And that you
referenced England's work also. So it seems to be behaviors and
taste and that sort of thing.
So what would you suggest that we do to correct those
behaviors or change the taste, if you will? Education seems
fine, but until you have some financial incentives, I am not
sure education alone is going to do it.
Dr. Ver Ploeg. I would say that access is a problem for
some. It may not be a large portion, but somewhere between two
and four percent of households. Again, it may not be the
biggest problem for obesity. But for those people, it is a
problem.
And then with respect to policy, this is something that
ERS--it is a research agency, so we are not really a policy
agency. But I would say that education is important, price is
important, and income is important for people.
Mr. Schrader. Thank you very much. I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Schrader.
At this time I would like to call on the gentlewoman from
Pennsylvania, Mrs. Dahlkemper.
Mrs. Dahlkemper. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I said in my
opening statement, I have worked in a very intimate way with
people on these issues over the years. I agree with you, Mr.
Concannon, that this is going to take more than the U.S.
Government to help solve this problem. It is a food industry
issue, it is a school issue, it is a media issue, it is a
parental issue, and government, and there are many other groups
that are involved in this issue.
Let me ask you a little bit about industry role. I am on
the Agriculture Committee so I talk to a lot of food industry
individuals. Where do you see the industry role at this point,
and are you in any conversations with industry about helping to
solve this issue? We are all in this together. It is going to
take us bringing everyone together to help solve this very
large issue.
Mr. Concannon. Yes, Congresswoman, we agree. It is not just
the purview and the responsibility of the government, per se,
but industry has to help in this. These days, I am very mindful
of the book that was published within the last year by the
former FDA Commissioner that speaks to the history of processed
foods in the United States from the 1960s to the present. I
think one of the national newspapers, just within the last
week, shows the percentage of processed foods that Americans
eat compared to other countries. I think we were at the highest
in that regard.
So there is much dialogue going on. I know the White House
has dialogued with industry. I know our Department has
dialogued with industry. The work that is underway, for
example, with the report that is going to be coming to you
around marketing of foodstuffs to children between the ages of
2 and 17 is a very important opportunity, because I reflect on
my own experience just watching the Olympics here a couple of
months ago. They would intersperse those Olympic activities
with which burger chain was recommending or could sell larger
burgers or bigger bags of fries. You are constantly bombarded.
So, part of it is messaging, and part of it is the foodstuffs
that are available to us.
I know the First Lady was quoted directly with saying to
industry: Don't just produce foods that don't have as dense a
calorie content, but promote those foods as well. Promote the
foods that are healthier for people.
I think part of it is understanding. At a previous
Congressional hearing, we had the Director of the Rudd Center
at Yale read what sounded to me like a chemistry class, a
paragraph, and he had just taken this off the back of a box of
a very popular breakfast food. Even a conscientious parent
trying to ascertain whether this is healthy for the child or
not, unless you are really professionally trained as a
nutritionist or a dietician or a chemist, you wouldn't know. I
think industry has a major role to play.
Mrs. Dahlkemper. Well, that leads right into my next
question, which is actually for Dr. Ver Ploeg. I am trained as
a dietician, and sometimes when I see the calorie contents when
I really have to search for it at times for certain items, I
myself am shocked. I think I am pretty good at at least having
a rough idea of how many calories are in food.
So have you done research--particularly, we just passed the
healthcare bill, which is going to require restaurants to have
calorie counts and nutrition information on the food that they
serve--have you done research to determine does that make a
difference; what kind of difference does it make; what are the
results of providing that kind of transparency?
Dr. Ver Ploeg. I think we have some research that is
ongoing, but we haven't completed it yet. It is actually an
area that I am not an expert in, but I would be happy to get
back to you and update you on what we are doing on that.
Mrs. Dahlkemper. I would appreciate that.
You mentioned transparency before, Mr. Concannon. I do
believe that will help. But I worked in early intervention. I
used to take moms to grocery stores which were very close to
their home. But it really is an education piece here. They
didn't get the education from their own parents that maybe some
of us did, and they weren't educated in school regarding these
issues. So it is a very complex issue. It is nothing we can
solve with one piece of legislation. But I appreciate you
coming forward today. I would also appreciate knowing where the
$30 million is on childhood obesity also.
Thank you very much. I yield back.
The Chairman. Thank you very much. I know that there are
additional questions that we would all love to ask, but I know
that we are running out of time. I would like to thank both of
the panelists for coming in to testify. We will submit our
questions in writing and hopefully you will respond back to
them. So at this time, thank you very much.
We would like to call panel two, our next panel, to the
table. At this time I would like to again welcome our second
panelists to testify here this morning. I would like to start
with the first witness. I will introduce her, and then after
she speaks, we will introduce the next witness and then we will
have some of the other Members introduce each of the following
witnesses so this way it doesn't get lost in the shuffle when
we introduce you all at this point. This way they will begin to
speak.
The first witness that we have is Ellie Krieger. She is a
New York Times best selling author and renowned registered
dietician who specializes in nutrition and health
communication. Thank you for being here today and at the
reception last night. I enjoyed that reception as well. As host
of the Food Network's Healthy Appetite, which I started
watching as of last night--and maybe I should have been
watching it more. But, Ellie, thank you for demonstrating that
cooking healthy foods can be quick, easy, and delicious. It was
delicious. Some of that food was good. It was just as good as
that In-N-Out Burger that I had. She will also share unique
strategies for eating well in challenging situations, such as
this office. Ellie's can-do attitude has made her the go-to
nutritionist in the media today. We are very pleased to have
her with us. Thank you very much for taking time from your busy
schedule to be here with us.
Ellie.
STATEMENT OF ELEANOR ``ELLIE'' KRIEGER, M.S.,
REGISTERED DIETITIAN AND HOST, HEALTHY APPETITE, FOOD NETWORK,
NEW YORK, NY
Ms. Krieger. Thank you, Chairman Baca. Actually, my goal is
to make healthy food as delicious as an In-N-Out Burger. So it
can be done. Also, thank you, Ranking Member Fortenberry and
Members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for your kind
introduction.
My name is Ellie Krieger, and I believe I have a uniquely
multifaceted perspective to offer you today. Professionally, as
you mentioned, I am a registered dietician and host of Food
Network's Healthy Appetite. I received my undergraduate and
postgraduate degrees in nutrition from Columbia and Cornell
Universities, and I served as an Adjunct Professor of Nutrition
Education at NYU. I have also written three award-winning books
on healthy living and cooking.
Personally, I have a 7 year old daughter, so I have the
vantage point of a mom juggling the demands of real life. And I
have the perspective of a community leader, as I have
spearheaded the formation of a wellness committee at my
daughter's school, PS 75, in New York City. Her school is a
perfect example of a mixed-community urban school. It is Title
I school; 60 percent of the students qualify for free lunch.
And it is a demographic that reflects those most at risk for
diabetes, obesity, and food insecurity.
The statistics on food scarcity are startling; 15 percent
of all American homes faced food scarcity in 2008, and that is
the highest number ever recorded. Nearly 17 million children
confronted hunger. Studies show that children who suffer from
hunger also suffer more often from colds, stomach aches, the
flu. They are more likely to be hospitalized, have trouble in
school, and, most significantly, more likely to become obese.
As we well know, poor nutrition is not exclusive to the
food insecure. It is a growing national problem. In all, only
two percent of our children eat a healthy diet, and an
estimated 17 percent of children are obese. But obesity and
food insecurity seem, on the surface, like opposite problems,
one of excess and one of scarcity, but they are really
integrally connected. Food insecure homes often rely on
cheaper, high-calorie foods to stave off hunger.
The other day, I spent nearly a dollar on an organic apple,
and I stopped to think if I were truly hungry and food
insecure, would I maybe consider a different kind of dollar
food menu item. I really might. But, luckily, these problems
share a common solution: the broad and consistent availability
of nourishing, affordable, high-quality food, and educating
people to make smart choices.
A cornerstone of nutrition education is not just to provide
information, but to effect behavior change by reaching someone
in their head, their heart, and their hands. That is with
knowledge, motivation, and skills. I strive to do that through
my show, Healthy Appetite, and all of my work. I hope that my
show, along with other Food Network shows, can help reverse the
loss of cooking skills among Americans and inspire them to
prepare fresh, healthy foods at home.
Food Network and its parent company, Scripps Network
Interactive, have taken a leadership role in promoting healthy
eating. Through its websites and television programs, Scripps
teaches people to cook, and also offers a wealth of educational
materials. Food Network has partnered with Share Our Strength
to create 14 Good Food Gardens, outdoor classrooms that educate
families on the importance of fresh, nutritious food and
inspire healthy eating habits for life.
Congress, of course, plays a critical role in promoting
access to healthy food. Nearly one out of five Americans
receives Federal food assistance, and 17 million children
benefit from SNAP alone. Simply put, if it were not for
government support and the actions of this Committee, we would
have even more hungry and unhealthy children in this nation. So
I am glad to see the Congress and the Administration are making
Federal food programs healthier and more robust.
By raising the SNAP monthly allotment and promoting the
purchase of fresh produce and healthier food alternatives, the
Committee has taken an excellent first step toward better
eating.
The upcoming renewal of the Child Nutrition Act is an
excellent opportunity to further this work. As part of that
renewal, Congress should adopt several substantive changes to
the Food School Programs already being debated. I have
supported setting national nutrition standards for all foods
sold in schools and provided by schools, not just breakfast and
lunch. We really need to strive to create a total environment
of healthy living in the schools and set that example.
I believe we need training for school food service
personnel on healthy food preparation. Getting out of the rut
of using unhealthy packaged food takes a little knowledge and
know-how, and I recommend training be done by qualified
nutrition professionals.
I favor Federal funds for the creation of school gardens
and additional farm-to-school programs. As the Food Network
demonstrates, this type of experiential education is
invaluable. It taps the head, heart, and hands in one fell
swoop. I think, finally, Congress should enhance and expand the
very important Summer Lunch Program.
To wrap up, I encourage looking at several other nutrition
issues as well. Congress should provide incentives to schools
to implement wellness policies. Unfortunately, many of these
exist solely on paper. In our own wellness committee, we had no
idea that New York City even had a formal wellness policy until
we really started digging online. It shouldn't be that buried,
in my opinion.
Congress should fund infrastructure improvements enabling
schools to prepare these healthier foods. You would be shocked
to see the closet-sized kitchen in my daughter's school. They
have two burners and two ancient ovens, and they feed 700
children two meals a day. If we are going to make changes in
school food, we have to ensure that those preparing the food,
those on the front lines, if you will, have the facilities to
do so.
Finally, the Federal Government should emphasize eating
whole rather than processed foods. The numerical approach to
healthy food, as we talked about looking at calories and food
and carbohydrates, often leads people to eat processed food,
while meeting the numerical definition of healthy, in the end
are far less nutritious than whole foods. Educating people to
take this macro approach to nutrition rather than a numerical
approach, I believe, would be a tremendous step toward
encouraging better food decisions.
So I truly appreciate the opportunity to appear before you
today. Thank you very much. I look forward to your questions.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Krieger follows:]
Prepared Statement of Eleanor ``Ellie'' Krieger, M.S., Registered
Dietitian and Host, Healthy Appetite, Food Network, New York, NY
Good morning, Chairman Baca, Ranking Member Fortenberry, and
Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Ellie Krieger, and I believe I
have a uniquely multi-faceted perspective to offer you on the issue of
childhood nutrition and wellness.
Professionally, I am a registered dietitian and host of Healthy
Appetite on Food Network. I received my undergraduate and post-graduate
degrees in nutrition from Cornell and Columbia Universities. I held the
position of director of nutritional services at the prestigious La
Palestra Center for Preventative Medicine, where I worked with a team
of physicians, psychologists and fitness specialists to create a
holistic obesity treatment program. And I was an Adjunct Professor of
Nutrition Education at the New York University Department of Nutrition,
Food Studies and Public Health.
In addition, I regularly speak at events around the country and
have appeared as a guest expert on dozens of programs including Today,
CNN, Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, and others. I am a regular
contributor to Fine Cooking, Woman's Health and Food Network magazines.
And I have written three books on healthy living and cooking, Small
Changes, Big Results; The Food You Crave; and So Easy: Luscious Healthy
Recipes for Every Meal of the Week, two of which are New York Times
best sellers and one for which I was honored with awards from the James
Beard foundation and the International Association of Culinary
Professions.
Personally, I have a 7 year old daughter, so I have the vantage
point of a mom juggling the demands of real life while trying to raise
a healthy family. And I also have the perspective of a community
leader, as I have spearheaded the formation of a Wellness Committee in
my daughter's school, Public School 75 in New York City. The first act
of the committee was to sign the school onto the HealthierUS Schools
Challenge, which I learned about during my participation in the healthy
kids fair on the White House lawn this past fall.
My experience making changes at this grass roots level at my
daughter's school has given me an understanding of the issues we face
like none of my formal education could have. Her school is a perfect
example of a mixed community urban school. It is Title I school with
about 60% of the students qualifying for free lunch. Its demographics
are 49% Hispanic, 30% African American, 13% White and 7% Asian. It is a
strong community school that depends on public resources, with a
demographic that reflects some of our children most at risk of obesity,
diabetes, and food insecurity. The decisions made in this room and in
Washington D.C. directly impact the children there.
On the surface obesity, diabetes, and food insecurity seem like
opposite problems--one of excess and one of scarcity. But in reality
they integrally connected. According to the Food Research and Action
Center: ``Households without money to buy enough food often have to
rely on cheaper, high calorie foods to cope with limited money for food
and stave off hunger. Families try to maximize caloric intake for each
dollar spent, which can lead to over consumption of calories and a less
healthful diet.'' \1\ These issues also share a common solution: the
broad and consistent availability of nourishing, high quality,
delicious food and the education and inspiration to help children and
families make smart choices.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See http://www.frac.org/html/hunger_in_the_us/
hunger&obesity.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Hunger Is On the Rise in America
The statistics on food scarcity are well-known to the Subcommittee,
but they remain startling in a country like the United States.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2008 Household Food
Security in the United States study, 15% of all homes in the U.S. were
``food insecure,'' \2\ which equates to nearly 17 million households.
Of that 15%, 5.7% faced a very low level of food security (amounting to
nearly 6.7 million households).\3\ According to USDA, the remainder of
the 17 million households were able to avoid food shortages by eating a
less varied diet, using public food assistance programs, or
supplementing their household food items with items from food pantries
or soup kitchens. Unfortunately, these numbers are starkly higher from
2007, and in fact they are the highest ever recorded by USDA since it
began collecting data on food security in 1995.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Food security is defined as ``consistent access to enough food
for an active, healthy life for all household members at all times
during the year.'' In real terms, food insecurity can mean running out
of food without money to buy more, cutting portion sizes, or skipping
meals.
\3\ In households with very low food security, the food intake of
some household members was reduced, and their normal eating patterns
were disrupted because of the household's food insecurity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
State-by-state numbers offer little comfort. In California, over
the last 3 years for which the USDA has released its food security
data, (2006 to 2008) an average of 12% of households in the state were
food insecure and 4.3% had very little food security each year. Over
that same period of time, an average of 10.4% of Nebraska households
were food insecure each year, with 4.0% facing very low food security.
These are not isolated numbers. Over that same time, according to the
USDA:
In Minnesota, an average of 10.3% of homes were food
insecure each year; 4.1% faced very low food security;
In Oklahoma, an average of 14% of homes were food insecure
each year; 5.9% faced very low food security;
In Texas, an average of 16.3% of homes were food insecure
each year; 5.7% faced very low food security;
In Pennsylvania, an average of 11.2% of homes were food
insecure each year; 4.2% faced very low food security;
In Oregon, an average of 13.1% of homes were food insecure
each year; 6.6% faced very low food security; and
In Ohio, an average of 13.3% of homes were food insecure
each year; 5.2% faced very low food security.
In fact, most states had an average of at least 10% of their households
face food insecurity each year, with around 3% to 4% of those same
homes facing very low food security. And nearly all of the states have
seen those numbers grow to some degree since 1995.
These numbers can be expected to grow further as the data in future
years measures the full impact of the recession. We all are
uncomfortably aware of how many people are out of work and have lost
their homes. What is even more striking is the number of underemployed
in America, who may face new food security challenges that they have
not been used to in the past. I expect that the 2009 USDA numbers will
show marked increases in food insecurity throughout the country, and
potentially millions of additional homes may be considered to have very
low food security.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ In fact, the Food Research and Action Center (www.frac.org)
just announced that in January of this year, almost 40 million
Americans sought SNAP/food stamp assistance, over 450,000 more people
than in January 2009. As of the end of January, one in eight Americans
received food stamp assistance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is truly concerning to me, though, is the impact food
insecurity has on our nation's children. Generally speaking parents
will sacrifice their own food security to make sure that their children
have enough to eat. Even so, USDA projected that in 1.3% of U.S.
households in 2008 both adults and children suffered from inadequate
food due to very low food security, up from 0.8% in 2007. In real
numbers, 506,000 households in America could not provide enough food so
that everyone living in that home--adult and child alike--could meet
their basic nutritional needs. In 2008, nearly 17 million children
lived at risk of facing food security issues at some point during that
year, 5.7 million children were living in homes that faced very low
food security for the adults in the home, and 1.1 million children
suffered from the direct effects of very low food security.
Food insecurity issues and hunger have a disproportionate impact on
children, with effects well-documented by researchers. According to
Share Our Strength, a national organization that, in partnership with
Food Network, works hard to make sure no kid in America grows up
hungry, childhood hunger impairs kids' health in significant and long-
lasting ways.\5\ Studies have shown that children who suffer from
hunger are sick more often and are more likely to be hospitalized.\6\
They are more likely to come down with common ailments, like colds,
stomachaches, and the flu. Most importantly for the future of the
nation, children who suffer from hunger issues are more likely to
suffer from childhood and adult obesity, and the harmful chronic
consequences caused by obesity.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Much of the following information is explored in more detail on
Share Our Strength's website, www.strength.org.
\6\ See, for example, Cook, J.T., Frank, D.A., Berkowitz, C.,
Black, M.M., Casey, P.H., Cutts, D.B., Meyers, A.F., Zaldivar, N.,
Skalicky, A., Levenson, S.M., Heeren, T., Nord, M. Food Insecurity is
Associated with Adverse Health Outcomes Among Human Infants and
Toddlers. J. Nutr., 134:1432-1438 (June 2004).
\7\ The link between hunger and childhood obesity was examined in
Casey, P.H., Szeto, K.L., Robbins, J.M., Stuff, J.E., Connel, C.,
Gossett, J.M., Simpson, O.M. Child Health-Related Quality of Life and
Household Food Security. Arch. Pediatr. Adolesc. Med., 159: 51-56
(2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hunger also predisposes children to behavioral difficulties, and it
impairs their ability to learn and perform academically.\8\ A lack of
food can contribute to a child's lack of attention and inability to
concentrate in a classroom. Children under the age of 3 who suffer from
food security issues often cannot learn as much, as fast, and as well
as other children of the same age. Children who do not regularly get
enough food can suffer from behavioral and emotional problems, and
teens who lack food security are more likely to have issues with their
peers and have disciplinary problems at school. As a result, hungry
children often achieve less than their peers and may be more likely to
face the economic and social difficulties in adulthood that often lead
to food insecurity. In many ways, hunger in children now becomes self-
reinforcing for future generations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ See, for example, Hunger in Children in the United States:
Potential Behavioral and Emotional Correlate, Pediatrics. Vol. 101 No.
1 p. e3 (January 1998); Jyoti, D.F., Frongillo, E.A., Jones, S.J. Food
Insecurity Affects School Children's Academic Performance, Weight Gain,
and Social Skills. J. Nutr., 135: 2831-2839 (December 2005); Food
insufficiency and American school-aged children's cognitive, academic
and psycho-social development. Pediatrics. Vol. 108, p. 44-53 (2001).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Numbers are just that--numbers. Often by focusing just on the data,
we can lose some perspective about what the numbers mean for the
nation. Last year, 49.1 million Americans suffered from a lack of food
security. And almost 25% of children went to school hungry in 2008.
II. Even Where Food Is Sufficient, the Nutritional Value of What Is
Eaten Is Questionable
While hunger and food security have to be of primary concern to all
of us, even those homes that are secure in their yearly food supply
face problems. It is no secret that obesity continues to rise in
America. Of immense concern is the rate of obesity among children,
which is increasing exponentially. According to information provided by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,\9\ an estimated 17
percent of children and adolescents between the ages 2 and 19 are
obese. Among pre-school age children (those 2 to 5 years old), obesity
increased from 5% to 10.4% between 1976-2008 and from 6.5% to 19.6%
among 6-11 year olds. Among adolescents aged 12 to 19, obesity
increased from 5% to 18.1% during the same period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Childhood obesity has significant long-term effects for the nation.
Again according to data documented by the CDC, obese children and
adolescents often remain obese into adulthood--``[O]ne study found that
approximately 80% of children who were overweight at aged 10-15 years
were obese adults at age 25 years. Another study found that 25% of
obese adults were overweight as children. The latter study also found
that if overweight begins before 8 years of age, obesity in adulthood
is likely to be more severe.'' \10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ Id. (internal citations removed).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
While a number of factors that have contributed to this marked rise
in childhood obesity, one significant factor is the change in the
American diet. The consumption of processed foods and empty calories
has increased, while the consumption of fresh fruit, vegetables, and
lean meats has declined. Children now eat significant amounts of junk
food as part of their diet, and consumption of high-calorie drinks has
grown. Today's kids consume a diet high in saturated fat and sodium,
but rarely eat enough fiber or whole grains to support a healthy
lifestyle. It is no wonder that nearly one in three kids are overweight
and one in five are obese.
Even where parents want to provide their family with the most
nutritious meals possible, they face real challenges because they live
in a food desert. A food desert is an area that lacks ready access to
supermarkets or other large grocery stores that stock affordable and
nutritious food. The growth of food deserts around the country is
astounding. Nationwide, USDA estimates that 23.5 million people,
including 6.5 million children, live in low-income areas that are more
than a mile from a supermarket. Of the 23.5 million, 11.5 million are
low-income individuals in households with incomes at or below 200
percent of the poverty line. Of the 2.3 million people living in low-
income rural areas that are more than 10 miles from a supermarket, 1.1
million are low-income. Conversely, in many of these areas, there is
ready access to less healthy food alternatives like fast food and
convenience stores that stock processed foods high in fat and sugar.
The correlation between a lack of access to nutritious food and
less healthy eating should not be ignored when considering how to
promote better food choices. Only 2% of children currently eat a
healthy diet (moderate in saturated and trans fat, sodium, and calories
with recommended amounts of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and low-
fat dairy). Better nutrition, in the short term, has been shown to
yield better academic performance, especially with regard to breakfast
and can effect behavior. In the long term it is a cornerstone of a
healthy lifestyle which can reduce the risk of diseases such as heart
disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes which can ultimately be a great
cost to our society.
III. Scripps Networks Interactive and Food Network Are Working to
Combat Food Scarcity and to Promote Healthy Eating
There is no single solution to the problems of hunger and nutrition
in America. It will take a combination of policy changes, private
sector initiatives, and hard work to help Americans have access to
adequate amounts of healthy, fresh food each day to support a balanced
diet. It has taken decades to change how we eat, and it may take
decades more to unlearn many of the bad habits we all have when it
comes to food.
Education, though, is one of the fundamental keys to helping
American families change their eating habits and approach to food.
Through my show Healthy Appetite and through the Food Network website
and magazine, I inspire people to eat nutritious, fresh foods by
providing delicious, accessible recipes as well as tips for navigating
restaurants and grocery stores and managing a healthy lifestyle. I
strive to follow the USDA guidelines for all of my recipes and teach
the perspective of balance and moderation as opposed to dieting and
extremes. Healthy Appetite is fueled by a passion for delicious healthy
food and shows you how to have the foods you love in a healthier way.
My hope is that my show, along with the other shows on the Food
Network, can help reverse the seeming loss of cooking skills amongst
Americans. As schools turn away from electives like home economics and
families spend fewer meals at home eating together, it seems, at least
from my perspective, like the nation has lost its cooking heritage. My
hope is that my show and others can remind Americans that being in the
kitchen is an asset both to themselves and to their families.
I was taught during my master's program in nutrition that the goal
of nutrition education is not simply to provide knowledge but rather to
affect behavior change. The most effective way to do that is to reach
someone in the head, the heart, and the hands. That is, to address
knowledge, motivation, and skills. People need to be educated about
good food, good nutrition, and the value of having a diet rich in fresh
whole foods. They also need to remember what it is like to love to eat
well, be motivated to change their diet, and to be inspired to try new
foods. Finally, people have to be taught how to prepare healthy foods
in their own kitchens. I strive to incorporate all three of these goals
into Healthy Appetite.
Food Network, and its parent company Scripps Networks Interactive,
also are playing a key role in trying to change the eating habits of
Americans. Scripps is the leader in family-friendly lifestyle
programming and seeks to promote healthy food choices across its
various TV channels and websites. Through its websites and television
programming, Scripps serves as a resource for educational materials
about healthy eating. At the same time, as people watch my show and
others on Food Network, I hope that they are inspired by new and
different recipes and are motivated to go into their kitchen and fix a
meal. Finally, both Scripps's websites and Food Network shows teach
people the skills necessary to prepare food at home--those same skills
that seem to have been lost in recent years.
Food Network has several television shows devoted to exploring
nutrition in the home and helping families create healthy meals with
inexpensive and readily-available foods. Besides Healthy Appetite, many
episodes of Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals focus on preparing vegetarian
dishes and other meals that encourage people to incorporate fresh
fruits and vegetables and other nutritious whole foods into their daily
meal plans. Likewise, Boy Meets Grill with Bobby Flay emphasizes
lighter meal preparation by grilling and the use of fresh, local
ingredients. In May, Scripps will launch a new network, Cooking
Channel, which will include a new show hosted by Emeril Lagasse titled
Fresh Food Fast.
On the web, where Scripps's food-related websites are the highest
rated and most visited on the Internet (with about 13 million unique
visitors each month), FoodNetwork.com and its sister website,
HealthyEats.com, both provide a vast amount of information to promote
better food choices and nutrition education. The Healthy Eating section
of FoodNetwork.com features Meal Makeovers, which takes comfort foods
and reinvents them with lighter ingredients and substitutions for
healthier eating. Healthy & Fast, another section of the
FoodNetwork.com website, features advice from dietitian Dana Angelo
White and Food Network chefs on ways to prepare fast and fresh weekday
meals. On HealthyEats.com, Food Network nutrition specialists provide
consumers with the latest tips, nutrition news, low-calorie recipes and
easy ideas for adding fresher, more wholesome foods to your life,
including information on eating healthy during pregnancy and gluten-
free eating.
Food Network also partners with not-for-profit organizations as
part of its commitment to promote food access and childhood nutrition.
Share Our Strength is Food Network's national public affairs partner,
with the two organizations joining together to create the Good Food
Gardens initiative. The mission of the Good Food Gardens is to educate
families on the importance of fruits, vegetables and other fresh,
nutritious foods--key ingredients to ending childhood hunger. Using the
Teich Garden Systems, Food Network's Good Food Gardens are educational,
outdoor classrooms that offer children fun, hands-on gardening
experiences that inspire healthy eating habits for life. Food Network
has underwritten the creation of 14 Good Food Gardens across the
country, with four more to be opened in 2010. Current Good Food Garden
locations are:
Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco, CA;
Center for Community and Family Services, Altadena, CA;
Care & Share Food Bank, Colorado Springs, CO;
Joseph Arthur Middle School, O'Fallon, IL;
West Side Elementary School, Greer's Ferry, AR;
Children Aid Society, New York, NY;
SEED School of Washington, D.C.;
Theodore Roosevelt High School, Washington, D.C.;
ArtSpace Charter School, Swannonooa, NC;
Boys & Girls Club of Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, FL;
Community School 211 The Bi-Lingual School, New York, NY;
Fulton Houses, New York, NY;
Harlem Children's Zone, New York, NY; and
Naoma Donnelley Haggin Boys & Girls Club, Delray Beach, FL.
Beginning in 2010, Food Network and Share Our Strength will expand
our educational partnership, developing initiatives to focus on three
critical areas: (1) Operation Frontline; (2) healthy school breakfasts;
and (3) education on smart food choices with food stamps. Food Network
is particularly happy to be a part of Operation Frontline, a notable
success for Share Our Strength. The program provides seven specialized
curricula that cover nutrition and healthy eating, food preparation,
budgeting and shopping. Operation Frontline's culinary and nutrition
volunteers teach these high-quality, cooking-based courses at a variety
of community-based agencies--including Head Start centers, housing
centers and after-school programs--with neighborhood locations that
make it easy for families to attend. Share Our Strength's data on the
program reveal the value of nutritional education:
87% of Adults report improving their cooking skills after
graduating from an Operation Frontline course, which means
they're better equipped to make healthy meals for their
families at home.
96% of kids who take Operation Frontline's Side By Side
course enjoyed cooking alongside their parents during class, an
important element in continuing to prepare and eat healthy
meals together as a family and teaching necessary skills to
future generations.
After participating in Operation Frontline, at least 69% of
adults said they were eating more fruit and vegetables than
before the course.
IV. Congress Must Be Cognizant of Food Access and Nutrition Issues as
It Develops National Food Policies
Congress plays an essential role in promoting access to healthy
foods, particularly through Federal food assistance programs. Nearly
one out of every five Americans uses one of the USDA's food assistance
programs each year. According to USDA's own study of food security, 55%
of all food insecure households receive food assistance from either the
School Lunch program, SNAP/food stamps, WIC, or some combination of
these programs. About 20% of food insecure homes also turned to food
pantries to help supplement the food they had at home, and 2.6% ate one
or more meals at a soup kitchen sometime during the year.
Federal food assistance programs are also vital to preventing
hunger amongst children. Information gathered by Share Our Strength
about how children use Federal food assistance programs is startling:
Nearly half of American children will receive food stamp
support in their lifetime.
17 million children benefit from SNAP assistance on average
each month.
An average of 9.2 million American women and children under
the age of 5 received WIC assistance each month last year.
Simply put, if it was not for government support through these
programs, we would have even more hungry kids in this nation.
The most important food support programs for children in this
country are the National School Lunch and National School Breakfast
programs. Again, according to data relayed by Share Our Strength, 19.5
million American children ate free or reduced-price lunches each school
day last year. As with the indices of hunger discussed above, that
number has been increasing; last year, 859,000 more children utilized
the free or reduced-price school lunch program per day compared to
2008. 8.8 million children on average used the free or reduced-price
school breakfast program each school day in 2009, but 10.1 million
children across the nation who were eligible for free or reduced-price
school breakfasts did not receive them last year, even though they
received free or reduced-price school lunches.
I am glad to see that Congress and the Obama Administration are
taking proactive steps to make the school lunch program, and all of the
Federal food support programs, healthier and more robust. The steps
taken by this Committee to reform the SNAP/food stamp program through
the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (part of the 2008 Farm Bill) were
quite welcome. Unfortunately, low-income families often try to stretch
their food budget by purchasing cheaper, more caloric foods that while
filling, contribute to obesity and other problems that can be
alleviated with a healthier diet.\11\ By raising the SNAP/food stamp
monthly benefit allotment and promoting the purchase of fresh fruits,
vegetables, and healthier food alternatives, this Committee and the
Congress have taken a good first step toward encouraging families to
eat healthier meals and educate children about healthy eating.
Additionally, the $1 billion in the bill to provide support for the
purchase of fruits and vegetables by schools will help to deliver fresh
foods to students.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ The Food Research and Action Center has documented the
relationship between hunger and obesity. See http://www.frac.org/html/
hunger_in_the_us/hunger&obesity.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the mom of a school-aged child, I am particularly happy that
First Lady Michelle Obama has focused her attention on the epidemic of
childhood obesity. I think her work to get the private sector to agree
to set standards for what is sold to students at school is welcome, as
well as her encouragement to those same companies to produce healthier
foods and reveal more nutritional information to consumers. I am also
very interested in the upcoming renewal of the Child Nutrition Act this
year and applaud the Senate Agriculture Committee's action on the
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 last month. I think that bill
contains some very good ideas about how we should approach healthy
eating in schools:
The bill would set national nutrition standards for all
foods sold by schools, not just meals. It also creates an
incentive for schools to comply with heightened nutritional
standards for their meals.
The bill would provide additional training to school food
service personnel on healthy eating.
The bill would provide Federal support for the creation of
school gardens to educate kids about fresh fruits and
vegetables.
The bill would also provide funding to schools to help them
purchase fresh, locally-sourced produce to be used in school
breakfasts and lunches.
I strongly support the move by the bill to set nutritional
standards for all foods sold in schools, particularly for snack foods.
Snacks now account for 27% of children's daily caloric intake and much
of that is of low nutritional value. We should strive to create a total
environment of healthy living in the schools, both curricular and
extracurricular, by providing standards for vending machines, a la
carte foods, snacks, and after-school offerings. I also really
appreciate the Senate's work on the summer lunch program. It is
important to provide healthy food assistance to school children
throughout the year, and school summer lunch programs are often very
under-utilized opportunities for kids to get healthy meals. I hope the
Congress moves forward with this legislation this year.
I think that the Healthy School Meals Act of 2010, introduced by
Representative Polis a few weeks ago, offers a few good ideas on
childhood nutrition and food availability. Healthy eating should start
young, and I think giving schools additional support to help them
provide vegetarian meal options will expose kids to new, healthier
foods. I also would encourage Congress and the Committee to look at
several other issues related to food and nutrition when considering
reforms to its food assistance programs:
Congress should require or provide incentives for the
employment of or consultation with qualified nutrition
professionals to aide in implementing school food service and
wellness policies. Congress also should consider providing
incentives to schools and school districts to implement,
assess, and enhance these wellness policies.
Congress should help fund, or encourage states to fund,
infrastructure improvements that will enable schools to prepare
and store healthier foods and provide adequate movement space
for children to be active.
Congress should support and enhance nutrition and physical
education programs especially those that are experiential,
inspirational and skill building, such as cooking workshops,
food growing, farm visits, and similar events.
Congress should encourage Federal food assistance programs,
along with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to emphasize the
nutritional value of including whole foods in your diet rather
than processed foods. Often we take a numerical approach to
determining what is healthy by only looking at things like fat,
sugar, and calories. Unfortunately, that numerical approach
encourages people to continue to eat processed foods that,
while meeting the numerical definition of what might be
considered healthy, are far less nutritious than comparable
whole foods. Educating people to take a macro approach to
nutrition, rather than a numerical approach, would be a
tremendous step toward encouraging much better food decisions.
I truly appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today on
behalf of Scripps Networks and the Food Network. Together, we can make
this country a healthier place to live. I look forward to your
questions.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Ellie.
Just to remind the rest of the members, I know that we have
5 minutes each, and I will allow a little liberty there in
allowing you to go beyond the 5 minutes, because I know that
you have taken the time to be here and this is very valuable
information. I just wanted to remind you of that.
Next I would like to call on Vicki Escarra, President and
CEO of Feeding America in Chicago, Illinois.
STATEMENT OF ROCCO DiSPIRITO, COOKBOOK AUTHOR AND CHEF, NEW
YORK, NY; ACCOMPANIED BY VICKI B. ESCARRA, PRESIDENT AND CEO,
FEEDING AMERICA, CHICAGO, IL
Ms. Escarra. Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and
Members of the Subcommittee, for the opportunity to talk to you
as well about the problem of healthy food access for millions
of hungry Americans and how the Feeding America Food Bank
Network is working on this problem.
I must begin by thanking you all, especially you, Mr.
Chairman, for your leadership with the recent farm bill, really
supporting healthy nutrition programs. So on behalf of our
network, thank you.
With me today is Rocco DiSpirito. As a member of our
entertainment council, Rocco is very interested in helping to
end hunger in America. He is an award-winning chef, an author,
and dietician for all Americans. He will tell you about some of
the recent findings that we have released in our National
Hunger Study that face and actually show the challenges that
poor people face in achieving healthy diets.
I would like to just mention a few highlights before I turn
it over to him, and that is that Feeding America is the largest
hunger relief organization in the United States. It is also the
largest charity that combines public and private partnerships.
We are over 200 members. We support 61,000 agencies that reach
37 million Americans, 14 million children. We work with roughly
one million volunteers.
A little bit about the Federal Commodity Assistance
Program. It is essential to our network. We very much
appreciate TEFAP and CSFP. Out of the almost 2.7 billion pounds
of food that we delivered through our network last year, 25
percent of the food that we delivered came from Federal
commodities.
We also know and we have talked a bit today about the many
low-income Americans who are eligible for SNAP don't
participate in this critically important program. We see them
every day in our pantries. You all know that. Rocco will talk
more about that in just a moment. But a very interesting
statistic is that we found that only 41 percent of our client
households reported that they are participating in SNAP, while
88 percent were actually eligible. So there is big opportunity
there. More than half of our food banks are doing aggressive
outreach around SNAP programs.
SNAP is not the only program that suffers from gaps in
coverage. Many poor children are without access to child
nutrition programs when they are out of school: during summer,
after school, weekends, extended holidays, and such. And so we,
as well, are very supportive of what is before you all now with
the Child Nutrition Act reauthorization bill and are very much
supporting the President's commitment to end childhood hunger
by 2015.
I know that we are all concerned about the kinds of food
that people receive through nutrition programs and the Feeding
America Network is doing our part. There is more to do in
making sure that kids and working families across this country
get healthy, nutritious food. In 2009, our food banks
distributed over 430 million pounds of privately donated fresh
fruits and vegetables.
It is interesting, because we did a piece of work with
Boston Consulting that was just completed a month ago, that
shows that over 5-6 billion pounds of produce are grown but not
brought to market in this country. And so we are working very
closely with private industry to get the dollars to get those
fruits and vegetables to families that need them.
Before I conclude, I want to just touch briefly on the
crisis our food banks are facing very soon. We are working very
closely with USDA and with Congress to actually get more money
around commodities. We are seeing declining dollars as a result
of money that we saw from the stimulus package. And so more
about that in the days ahead.
But, simply put, you all know that the Brookings Institute
did an analysis with OMB and CBO that projects unemployment
rates will stay between eight and ten percent for the next 2
years, so we are not going to see a decline in the need that is
out there anytime soon.
Concluding thoughts: I would just say that food banks and
our local feeding agencies are often the first to see the
devastated faces of people who never imagined that they would
be seeking help at food pantries, shelters, or soup kitchens.
And so we want to thank you so much for having an opportunity
to share with you our work and our facts today.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Escarra follows:]
Prepared Statement of Vicki B. Escarra, President and CEO, Feeding
America, Chicago, IL
Introduction
Thank you Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee for the
opportunity to be with you today to talk with you about the problem of
food access for low income populations and the role that food banks
play in providing access to healthy and nutritious foods. I also want
to thank you and your colleagues for your leadership in the fight to
end hunger in this nation.
As you know, our network and those we serve are greatly dependent
upon the nutrition and commodity donation programs authorized by the
Farm bill. We are very grateful to your Committee for the truly
historic nutrition title in the last Farm bill (the Food, Conservation,
and Energy Act of 2008), and for your on-going support for these
critically important programs that help feed and nourish the hungry of
this nation.
With me today is, Rocco DiSpirito, who is a member of our Celebrity
Council. Rocco is a renowned and wonderful chef and a dedicated
advocate in the fight to end hunger and promote nutritious and healthy
diets for all Americans. Rocco will talk about his commitment to ending
hunger, sharing some stories of people who have been served through our
programs. He also will provide information on our hunger study and
discuss some of the challenges that poor people face in achieving
healthy diets.
I have submitted full written testimony for the record and will
briefly highlight the major points of that testimony and then turn it
over to Rocco for his remarks. If we are lucky, he may even share some
of his gastronomic secrets.
As President and CEO of Feeding America, I am pleased to be able to
share with you information on the many creative and innovative ways
that our 200 food banks provide access to nutritious foods for over 37
million people served by more than 62,000 local charitable feeding
organizations.
Food Banks and the Access Challenge
Addressing food access is an integral part of the mission of
Feeding America food banks. In addition to food boxes and congregate
meals at pantries, soup kitchens and shelters, our network reaches out
into local communities as well through mobile pantries, community
gardens, senior centers, afterschool and out-of-school programs.
The main sources of Federal support for food banks are The
Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Commodity
Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Though only a small part of our
overall food distribution, food provided through these programs
provides the firm foundation for most of our anti-hunger efforts. These
programs make it possible for our network to distribute millions of
pounds of nutritious foods to the food pantries, shelters, soup
kitchens, and senior nutrition programs. They also support the farm
economy by providing an outlet for surplus or price supported
commodities.
Feeding America food banks are the largest user of commodities
provided through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). This
program provides a consistent source of food that allows many feeding
agencies to keep their doors open, and as noted below, helps us
leverage private, charitable donations to significantly expand the
total amount of food and resources we are able distribute through our
food bank network.
In FY 2009, Feeding America food banks distributed a total of $2.2
billion worth of food to local charitable feeding agencies;
approximately $436 million of this total came from commodities bought
with The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Commodity
Supplemental Food Assistance Program (CSFP) funding.
The reliable Federal support provided for nutrition programs and
policies allows our network to tap into a wide array of private
donations and partnerships with corporate donors and sponsors that help
to stretch Federal dollars many times over.
Last year the Feeding America network distributed over 2.6 billion
pounds of food to hungry people. Federal commodities made up about 25
percent of this total; donations to local food banks brought in some 33
percent; national partnerships provided 28 percent and we purchased
some 15 percent of all the food distributed. This shows the multiplier
effect that a relatively small investment of Federal commodities can
have, and demonstrates a remarkably high return for the millions in
this country who rely on food banks and their community feeding
organizations.
In addition to providing nourishment to those in need, our network
is heavily involved in promoting and helping hungry people to access
other nutrition programs, like SNAP, Child Nutrition, and WIC.
Filling the Gaps
Low rates of participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) are another area where food banks are working to improve
access. Recognizing the enormous importance of SNAP to meeting the goal
of ending hunger, our network has invested heavily in efforts to help
our eligible clients gain access to SNAP benefits. As the Committee
well knows, too many people who are eligible for SNAP benefits are not
receiving them. USDA data show that about \1/3\ of those who are
eligible for SNAP do not participate in this program (the proportion is
much higher for elderly).
Our own data from the recent study of Feeding America clients
(Hunger in America, 2010) confirms low rates of participation among
potentially eligible households. According to this study, 88 percent of
households served by our food banks reported incomes below 130% of the
Federal poverty level, the income cut-off for SNAP eligibility. Yet,
only 41% of our client households were participating in SNAP.
Our food banks are committed to addressing this problem by
conducting outreach and working with local Federal, state and local
SNAP agencies to offer on-site application assistance to clients
struggling with the difficult and time-consuming process of qualifying
for these critically important benefits. Food bank workers and
volunteer are receiving rigorous training to help potentially eligible
families learn about SNAP and its benefits. They offer on-site
assistance to help clients fill out applications so that they can be
quickly certified by public agencies and receive SNAP benefits. We hope
that our SNAP partnership with USDA and with state and local
authorities will continue, and that it can be expanded through waivers
and other methods to help more eligible households secure SNAP
benefits.
Many of our food banks are expanding efforts to fill the gaps in
child nutrition and other programs, as well. With support from the
Federal child and adult care food program, our network operates
afterschool nutrition programs for children in low-income areas. These
Kids Cafe' programs offer nourishing snacks or meals and
activities that keep children safe after school. More recently, we have
undertaken efforts to reach poor children through weekend nutrition or
BackPack programs that provide nutritious meals for poor school
children to take home on weekends. Much more needs to be done to
improve access to healthy foods for the millions of low income children
when schools are out of session and child care facilities are not
available to them.
Safe and Nutritious Food
Quality is a priority for the Feeding America network of food
banks. They work hard to ensure that the food which is bought or
donated and distributed to those in need is safe and nourishing.
Food banks strive to design food packages and meals that are
balanced, nourishing and protein rich. In addition to providing healthy
foods, our network helps educate clients about nutrition and the value
of a healthy diet. This work includes education and instruction from
registered dieticians and community nutritionists, as well as
distribution of recipes and hands-on cooking lessons for adults and
children. Utilizing grant awards for innovative programs, food banks
are developing creative ways to instruct clients about the value of
good nutrition and how to incorporate healthy eating into their diets
with limited resources. SNAP nutrition education funding also is being
utilized to develop instructional classes on healthy eating and cooking
for families that qualify for SNAP benefits.
Over the years we have expanded storage capacity and refrigerated
trucks to increase distribution of fresh foods, especially fruits and
vegetables. This allows our food banks to intensify efforts to raise
donations of, and funding for greater quantities of fresh produce. Our
commitment to the cause of healthy eating is demonstrated by the
extraordinary increases in the amounts of fresh produce distributed by
network food banks.
Over the past 10 years, the volume of privately funded and donated
fresh fruits and vegetables that Feeding America food banks distribute
to the needy has nearly tripled--growing from 150 million lbs. in 1999
to over 430 million lbs. of fresh produce in 2009. Accompanying this
are community garden projects and leasing arrangements with local
farmers to harvest their food products.
Finally, our national office closely monitors product recalls and
issues recall alerts to food banks immediately when there is a USDA or
industry food product recall. In every case, food banks and affiliated
agencies go through their inventory to remove and destroy recalled
products. This may sound simple, but it involves a significant
investment of time and effort when the food product, like the recent
peanut recall, is contained in a variety of end products like cereals,
nutrition bars and other foods.
Commodity Distribution Programs
TEFAP: As you know, the 2008 Farm bill contained a substantial
increase in mandatory funding to buy commodities for TEFAP. This
increase helped offset erosion in the value of funding for commodities
that had been frozen at the same level for the previous 5 years. More
significantly, it offset much of the loss in bonus commodity donations
that had been falling dramatically for several years and which
emergency feeding agencies had come to rely upon.
The funding increase in the new Farm law was a blessing and helped
emergency feeding agencies replenish their declining stocks, at least
for awhile. By FY 2009, however, as economic conditions continued to
worsen and more and more people were seeking food assistance, emergency
feeding agencies again were facing food shortages. The Congress
included $100 million in additional funding for TEFAP commodity
purchases for FY 2009-2010 in the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA). This has enabled many emergency feeding agencies to
continue serving the growing numbers of people coming to them for help.
In 2010, economic conditions, although improving, are not expected
to significantly alter the bleak unemployment figures, which continue
to hover around 10% nationally and much higher in hard hit regions of
the country. The additional commodities bought with the ARRA funding
will run out early this April. Meanwhile, changes in the farm economy
and a cap on the use of Section 32 funds for bonus commodity purchases
are expected to substantially reduce bonus commodity donations to
TEFAP. Bonus commodities provided for emergency feeding programs in FY
2010 are expected to be about $181 million, less than half the FY 2009
level, and are projected to fall even lower in FY 2011.
There is no indication that the numbers of people coming to food
banks for help (already at record levels) will abate while unemployment
remains high, which most economists predict will be the case for some
time to come. Many food banks and emergency feeding agencies already
are struggling and well may be facing the prospect of empty or
seriously depleted food stocks by the end of the year if no additional
commodities are forthcoming.
Feeding America estimates that an additional $250 million in
commodity assistance is needed to cover the TEFAP commodity shortfall
this year and to ensure that service can be maintained for the rest of
this fiscal year. We recommend that the Congress approve this
``emergency funding'' as quickly as possible and hope that the House
Agriculture Committee will support this proposal.
Infrastructure Grants: The Administration budget request proposes
to zero out the $6 million in funding for TEFAP infrastructure grants
that were authorized by the 2008 Farm bill and finally funded by FY
2010 agriculture appropriations. These grants, just recently announced
by the Administration for FY 2010, are critically important to help
food banks with the costs of maintaining and improving their facilities
and equipment and ensuring safe food storage and handling. Many of our
food banks, particularly those located in rural areas are struggling to
update their facilities and equipment. Efforts to increase the amount
of fresh fruits and vegetables for distribution are hindered by
outdated refrigeration and storage units. Moreover, the poor economy in
many regions is handicapping efforts to raise sufficient private
funding for capitol improvement projects. We hope that the Committee
will support the continuation of funding for these projects when the
House takes up FY 2011 agriculture appropriations legislation.
Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP): More than \1/3\ of
Feeding America food banks operate CSFPs in states approved for this
program. We are pleased that your Committee has long-supported the
CSFP, which is critically important to so many needy elderly and young
mothers and children. The addition of new states to this program last
year has opened the way for many more hungry people to receive the
nourishment they need. It is our hope that caseloads in states with
programs can be increased and that over time more states and localities
will be able to offer CSFPs. The decline in bonus commodities available
to this and other nutrition programs is worrisome, and we hope that
this does not impede progress in reaching the many people, especially
seniors, who require the nutritious supplemental food packages provided
by the CSFP.
Innovative Programs for Children
Child Nutrition programs are the foundation upon which to build a
nation where all of our children have access to the nutritious foods
essential to help them learn and thrive and lead healthy and productive
lives. It is critically important that comprehensive child nutrition
reauthorization legislation be enacted this year, and that enough
funding be provided to make this happen.
Too many low-income children in this country are unable to access
child nutrition programs when they need them. For example, only 2.2
million children participate in the Summer Food Service Program, which
is targeted to children living in low-income areas. This compares to
some 19 million low-income children receiving free and reduced price
school lunches during the school year. Summer food and child care
feeding programs are handicapped by excessive sponsor requirements,
proscriptive eligibility rules and administrative and paperwork burdens
that limit access to these programs and reduce cost efficiencies. At a
time when state and local governments are struggling with budget
cutbacks, these administrative barriers hinder sponsorship of Federal
nutrition programs that could help millions of children without adding
fiscal burdens to states and communities.
Recognizing the many gaps in our child nutrition programs, our food
banks are extensively engaged in promoting and feeding children through
innovative child nutrition programs. Along with providing food to over
14 million children through our food pantries, shelters and soup
kitchens, our food banks operate more than 1,600 Kids Cafes'
serving more than 115,000 children each year. These after school
programs are able to operate with support from the Child and Adult Care
Food program and private donations. They are run in a wide variety of
local settings like Boys and Girls clubs, churches, community centers,
and schools. Kids Cafe' programs had their origin in
Savannah, Georgia, in 1989 after two young brothers were found late one
night in a housing project community kitchen looking for something to
eat.
More recently, our food banks have taken on the issue of gaps in
our child nutrition programs by initiating weekend feeding programs for
low income children. These programs, commonly known as BackPack
programs, operate in partnership with local schools and community
agencies and provide child-friendly, non-perishable, nutritious foods
for children to take home on the last day before a weekend or school
holiday. BackPack programs originated in Little Rock, Arkansas after a
school nurse contacted the local food bank to ask for help when she
noticed that many children were coming to her on Mondays complaining of
stomach aches and dizziness. There now are more than 140 Feeding
America members and partner organizations operating 3,600 BackPack
programs that serve more than 190,000 children.
The Administration FY 2011 proposes to increase funding for child
nutrition programs by $1 billion annually (or $10 billion over 10
years) to make changes to these programs that will help achieve the
President's goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015. Feeding America
fully supports the President's ambitious and achievable goal and budget
proposal.
Feeding America recommends that changes to child nutrition programs
be accomplished this year to expand their quality and reach to all
children, and that these changes fill the gaps in current services for
low-income children. Our priorities call for (1) expanding the reach
and quality of foods for hungry children in schools, child care, After
school and summer sites; (2) providing start-up funding and outreach to
increase the number of Summer Food Service programs in unserved and
underserved areas; (3) funding innovative programs, like the BackPack
Program, to help hungry children when they do not have access to
nutrition programs, and (4) better coordinating programs and
streamlining and simplifying rules that prevent or hinder the operation
of child nutrition programs.
We hope that the Agriculture Committee of the House will support
new funding to make the needed improvements to child nutrition programs
so that all of our children can grow and learn and lead healthy and
productive lives.
Concluding Thoughts
Food Banks and local feeding agencies often are the first to see
the devastated faces of those who never imagined that they would be
seeking help at a food pantry, shelter, or soup kitchen. The charitable
sector has truly stepped up to try and serve the growing numbers of
those in this nation who are hungry. Nonetheless, as we learned in the
Great Depression and are reminded of in the current Great Recession,
charity alone cannot meet the need.
The government and charitable sector must work together and Federal
nutrition programs must be the solid foundation upon which to finish
the work of finally ending the scourge of hunger in this nation. No one
in this country should have to wonder where their next meal will come
from, or how they will afford to buy nutritious foods for their
families.
Thank you so much for allowing me to present this testimony. I hope
you will not hesitate to contact me or my colleagues in our Washington
policy office if we can be of assistance in helping you and the
President finally put an end to hunger among children and for all of
those living in out great nation. I will be happy to answer any
questions you may have.
The Chairman. Thank you very much.
Before we go on, I would just like to state that Rocco, in
2003-2004, had an NBC reality show, The Restaurant, and was a
contestant on the seventh season of ABC's Dancing with the
Stars. So some of us are very envious of that. My wife watches
it every Monday night. I said maybe I should be out there
dancing with the stars then she would be watching me. Thank you
very much. He also appeared as guest judge on Bravo's Top Chef
and NBC's Biggest Loser. With that, Rocco.
Mr. DiSpirito. Thanks for establishing my impressive
credentials. Before I get started, I just want you to know that
In-N-Out Burger is one of the only quick-serve restaurants that
happens to use a couple of fresh ingredients. So don't feel too
bad about your choices. They are actually pretty good.
Thank you for having me here today to share my thoughts
about the challenge of food access for low-income Americans and
food bank programs. I am a chef and author of several
cookbooks; most recently, one directed at making healthy food
choices. I am shocked and appalled by the number of people in
this nation who are hungry and unable to secure the nourishing
foods that most of us take for granted.
In 2008, over 49 million people were found by the
Department of Agriculture to be food insecure, or hungry. That
is an increase of 13 million, or two percent, above the 2007
figures. It represented 16.4 percent of the civilian
population, and included 17 million children. These findings
were before the huge spike in unemployment occurred in 2009, so
God only knows what we are dealing with now.
Feeding America and food banks have been struggling with
this alarming rise in hunger. I have seen it myself. I have
been to the food banks in New York and I have met the lovely
people who are their clients. They are actually running out of
food now. There was a time when they didn't run out of food,
and now they are.
Let me share a few facts from their national study, Hunger
in America, 2010. The study looks at the numbers of people
using food banks in 2009, but it is about much more than
numbers; it puts a face on hunger in 2009 of the 37 million
people that sought food assistance from Feeding America food
banks. Children made up nearly 14 million, as we said earlier,
of all food bank clients, a 50 percent increase since 2005.
Among racial and ethnic groups, the greatest increase in terms
of number of people was among adult Hispanic clients.
More than 11 million of the adults served by food banks
were unemployed, 3.2 million of them for just less than a year;
41 percent of households reported that a member received SNAP
benefits. Recipients reported a variety of reasons why they
needed emergency food assistance. Among them were difficulty
choosing between buying food and paying for utilities, heating,
or medical bills. That is 6.7 million households. Having to
choose between medicine or medical care and food, five million
households; buying food or making the rent or mortgage
payments, these are not choices any of us would like to make.
And the real people behind these numbers--I will identify
them by first names only--Lisa and David and their two young
kids needed food bank assistance when they lost their family
business and couldn't get by on David's low-wage job. Candy and
James had their home foreclosed on after Candy lost her job.
Crystal, a college student, needs food from the pantry for
herself and her brother to pay the rent and stay in school.
Healthy eating is a challenge for all Americans, especially for
the low-income people and families. Busy schedules too often
make fast foods the easy menu choice, particularly when parents
are not at home for meals. The location of a grocery store, as
we talked about earlier, variety of and food prices can limit
access to healthy foods.
Understanding nutrition and the right foods and how to
prepare them is also a factor in poor diets. But the most
serious problem for low-income families is that their limited
income and resources prevent them from having access to the
food they need. As the USDA experts have reported, many low-
income people have diets that fall short of the recommended
servings of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat
dairy products.
Feeding America food banks are engaged in efforts to
increase the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables. In 2009,
network food banks distributed over 430 million pounds of
donated fresh produce, nearly triple the level distributed in
1999. They are also developing nutrition and education programs
that stress the importance of fresh produce, whole grains,
dairy, and good health. I have actually participated in a
couple of them. And I have to say that the clients were very
eager to learn about cooking, preparation of nutritious foods.
And we are very excited about it.
I think we should expand nutrition education and
instruction as an essential way to help people access and
consume the right foods. Feeding America food banks have
developed innovative and creative programs across the country
to help families learn how to make the best use of the foods
they receive. They are also offering instruction on the
importance of nutrition to health and how to use limited food
dollars and SNAP benefits to achieve a balanced diet.
I have a lot more thoughts but I know we are running out of
time. I just wanted to end with this. U.S. hunger costs America
$126 billion a year. According to some people, we can end this
problem for $33 billion a year. Hungry children learn less
effectively. Hungry adults have more difficulty getting jobs
and keeping them. Hunger causes diseases that cost tens of
billions of dollars; 49 million Americans who are food insecure
spent $13 less a week on food than the non-hungry. That is the
$33 billion shortfall.
Thank you so much for allowing me to offer my thoughts
today. I appreciate it.
[The prepared statement of Mr. DiSpirito follows:]
Prepared Statement of Rocco DiSpirito, Cookbook Author and Chef, New
York, NY
Introduction
Good morning, and thank you for inviting me to share my thoughts
about the important topic of the hearing you are holding today. As you
know, I am a chef and author of several cookbooks that offer recipes
for health and flavorful eating. I am also a citizen of this country
who is shocked by the number of people in this nation who are hungry
and unable to secure the healthy and nourishing foods that so many of
us take for granted.
I am a strong proponent of healthy foods and good nutrition, and I
find it difficult to reconcile the fact of the alarming obesity rate in
this country with the data showing that there are so many hungry
people. But as we all know, obesity is about more than poor food
consumption and there is more than just one villain in this story.
Changing one's diet cannot take the place of exercising; nor can
plunking down at a television, or computer or game terminal for hours
on end. Moreover, I know that eating healthy requires challenges that
many in this nation, rich and poor, find difficult to meet. For those
who are without the means to achieve adequate amounts of food, the
challenge may be nearly impossible.
Vicki and her colleagues at Feeding America have helped me
understand the problem of food access as it relates to those served by
the network food banks. They also have outlined the special challenge
this presents for low-income populations whose diets require greater
amounts of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy
that may be difficult to find or afford.
The findings of the recently released Study, Hunger in America,
2010 provides national and local date on those seeking help from
Feeding America food banks and their local charitable feeding agencies.
It helps to inform us about the causes for poor access to nutritious
foods. The following are some of the findings of this study.
Hunger in America, 2010
The worsening economy and an unemployment rate hovering at ten
percent nationally and higher in some areas brought a sudden and
dramatic rise in the number of people seeking food assistance from the
Feeding America food bank network. Many of those coming to food banks
in recent months never imagined that they would be seeking food
assistance at their local pantries and soup kitchens. In fact, many are
first time users, or people who formerly volunteered at the local food
pantries of food banks. Many hope that their emergency situation will
be temporary, and for some this is true but, many others will continue
to need help for themselves and their loved ones as they struggle with
chronic illness or disabilities, falling wages, fixed incomes, and/or
inadequate social security and other benefits. The homeless continue to
need help from shelters, soup kitchens and food banks. Their number is
growing to include a whole new class of people who have been caught in
the downward spiral of housing foreclosures, lost jobs, high mortgages
and rent, and heavy debt loads.
The Feeding America study, completed this year (Hunger in America,
2010) confirms the unprecedented growth in demand for help from food
banks and their agencies. This study found that in 2009 food banks and
their local affiliates were serving some 37 million people, an increase
of 46% over the study findings for 2005 (Hunger in America, 2006).
Children made up 13.9 million of food bank clients, a fifty percent
increase above the number of children served in 2005.
Among racial and ethnic groups, the greatest population group
increase--66%--was among Hispanics, with numbers rising from 1.8
million in 2005 to 3 million in 2009.
Over 11 million of those served by food banks in 2009 were
unemployed--with 3.2 million of them unemployed for less than 1 year,
and less than half (41%) of household members reported that someone in
the household received SNAP benefits.
When queried about the reason for needing food assistance:
6.7 million households reported difficulty choosing between
buying food and paying for utilities or heating bills;
5 million households reported having to choose between
medicine or medical care;
5.7 million households reported the choice between buying
food and making rent or mortgage payments;
4.3 million households reported at least one member in poor
health;
3.5 million reported not having health insurance for a
family member; and
6.7 million reported having unpaid medical or hospital
bills.
Unlike a lot of other hunger studies, the Feeding America Hunger
study is about much more than numbers. It puts a face on hunger, and it
is a face that many of us can recognize.
Many of those needing help from food pantries are young
families, like Lisa and David and their two children. They lost
the family business and couldn't make ends meet even after
David found a low-paying job. They needed the local food pantry
in the Boston area to supplement their SNAP benefits until
David got a promotion and wage increase.
Candy and James, a middle aged couple, started going to St
Paul's Place in Maryland about 10 months ago after Candy lost
her job and they had to leave their home because of
foreclosure.
Mary, a senior citizen from Wyoming is diabetic and has spinal
arthritis. Despite this, she cuts her own wood to save on
utilities. Mary's Social Security doesn't cover her medical,
household and food expenses. She needs the Salvation Army food
pantry food box to stretch her grocery budget so she can get
the food she needs to stay healthy.
Crystal, a college student in Arkansas studying to be a nurse
needs food provisions from the local food pantry for herself
and her brother so she can pay the rent and stay in school.
Katherine, a working mother with two children needs help from
the local food pantry in Oklahoma where she gets food and
clothing to help her cover heavy medical expenses for her two
children, both of whom suffer with serious medical conditions.
Daniel is 5 years old and the youngest of a family of eight. He
and his family came to the local church pantry in Colorado in
2008 because it offered a safe place to play and have a meal.
Daniel's father is recently unemployed and his mother is
putting herself through school by working at a discount store.
Robin and Russ of Iowa and their four children lost everything
when their home was washed away in the Midwest floods of 2008.
The emergency shelter set up by a nearby school helped them
with a place to stay and they received food and emergency food
stamps to help get them through.
Leanna is a grandmother and volunteer. She relies on the food
bank for those times when her disability check and SNAP
benefits can't cover monthly expenses.
Zoey, a young mother of four and her husband lost their rental
home after hurricane Gustav. They live out of a motel room and
turn to a local soup kitchen for warm meals and bags of food.
Ginger, a single mother of four in Idaho needed help from the
Women and Children Only shelter after her abusive husband left
her and her children with no car and $10.77. She is starting
her own business in the evenings and works during the day at
the local Department of Education.
Edward, has a chronic illness and is raising four children. His
modest disability pay and food stamps are not enough to feed
the family and he receives groceries from the local food pantry
run through the San Antonio Food bank.
Angelina is 88 years old and the sole caregiver for her husband
of 67 years who has leukemia and diabetes and needs medications
and a special diet that is nearly impossible to afford. When
their fixed incomes can't cover the mortgage, insurance and
utilities, Angelina gets help from St. Theresa's Food Pantry in
Rhode Island.
Lavern, a divorced mother raising six children, lost her
construction job and relies on Reaching Out Community Services
Food Pantry in New York to supplement her monthly social
security and SNAP benefits and meet high rent and utility
bills.
Steve and Judy, a retired couple, rely on Logan Food Pantry's
monthly food distribution to make ends meet when their social
security and disability checks don't cover their high medical
bills.
The tragedies behind these stories often find hope in the food
pantries, shelters, and soup kitchens across the country. And, I am
very humbled to be able to speak on behalf of the Feeding America
network and the millions of those that they serve.
Food Access and Healthy Eating
As a chef and long time proponent of healthy living, I am a strong
advocate of helping people to maintain balanced and nutritious diets
and to consume meals that are both healthy and appealing. For many
young families and working parents it is hard to find the time for
shopping and food preparation. Competing school, work, and other
activities and schedules often make fast foods the easiest menu choice.
This does not have to be so if families have the wherewithal to buy
enough food, understand its nutritional value and long term health
benefits and know how to prepare and cook meals. This is a big IF for
low-income families. The challenges for them are much greater. They
have limited resources to pay for housing, utility and medical and
other necessities, which often win out in competition against food
spending.
Moreover, for many low income households, the location of a grocery
store can be a challenge along with the often limited variety of fresh
foods available for sale and the higher food prices in neighborhoods
that only have small grocery and convenience stores. Many low wage
earning families are working night and weekend shifts, or several jobs
that limit the time they have to spend on buying and preparing meals.
Finally, too many people lack knowledge and access to information about
the practical aspects of achieving a healthy diet. Too often, people
are told what not to eat, but less often what they should eat, what
foods to buy, and how to prepare them.
Nutrition Education: Expanding nutrition education and instruction
is an important way to help people access and consume ``the right
foods.'' Feeding America food banks are developing innovative and
creative programs throughout the country to help families learn how to
make the best use of the food they receive, the importance of nutrition
to health, and how to use limited food dollars and SNAP benefits to
achieve a balanced diet.
The Food Bank of Delaware employs two Registered Dieticians with
SNAP Nutrition Education funds. A Calcium Banking module teaches
children and adolescents the benefits of including calcium rich foods
in their diets. Children are given deposit tickets for ``bone banks''
that reflect the number of servings of dairy foods a child consume each
week. A favorite of mine is The ``Kids In the Kitchen'' lesson, which
gives children chef hats and teaches them how to prepare their own
smoothies and fruit and yogurt parfaits. Children also learn how to
follow a recipe and measure ingredients.
As part of its SNAP outreach work, Food Finders Food Bank in
Lafayette, Indiana has developed a partnership with Purdue University,
which provides for a 3 week community nutrition rotation by students
who work and learn about barriers to SNAP participation and increase
awareness of the importance of nutrition. The program incorporates
recipes for foods distributed by food pantries.
In Texas, the Tarrant Area Food Bank's SNAP outreach staff partners
with state Health and Human Service Commission to conduct SNAP outreach
and develop and distribute nutrition education materials to help SNAP
recipients understand the value of healthy eating.
As public awareness of the link between diet and health has grown
along with the disturbing increase in obesity, growing numbers of food
banks are engaging dieticians and nutritionists to help clients with
their diets. Kids Cafes' provide nutrition education for
children in afterschool care, BackPacks contain instructional material
on nutrition and proper food handling, and programs provide healthy
diet instructions for those with medically related dietary needs.
Increasingly local community feeding agencies offer recipes and cooking
classes.
These and many other food bank programs are ensuring that in
addition to receiving food packages, the people they serve receive
information and instruction about how to stretch their food dollars,
understand the importance of good nutrition, the amounts of specific
foods they should consume for a balanced diet, and recipes for healthy
eating.
Income, Access, and Affordability: The recent USDA-ERS, report
discussed at this hearing found that 11.1 million low income people
were living in low-income areas located more than 1 mile from a
supermarket, or so-called Food Deserts. In rural and small town areas
the report found that the most defining access problem was lack of
transportation infrastructure to get to grocery stores.
While location and access to grocery stores is an issue, the ERS
report suggests that it is less of a problem than lack of money. Their
report found that while 6% of all U.S. households reported they did not
have food they wanted or needed because of access problems--more than
half reported that this was because they lacked money for food.
Although food prices in this country are among the lowest in the
world, the variation in food prices among foods and even for the same
food can vary according to the location. In general, supermarkets and
large grocery store food prices are lower than those of small grocery
and convenience stores. But even among supermarkets, food prices can
vary substantially, as reported by the ERS.
Food Costs Vary Across the United States
(Source: Amber Waves, Nov. 2008, Can Low Income Americans Afford a
Healthy Diet?)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Half Gallon Head, Iceberg 29 oz. can of
City/State whole milk Lettuce peaches
------------------------------------------------------------------------
8Highest (Boston) $2.51 (D.C.-VA) (San Fran., CA)
$1.79 $2.47
Lowes(Pittsburgh) (Jackson, MS) (San Antonio, TX)
$1.45 .90 $1.390
Los Angeles-$2.34 $1.28 2.24
Beach, CA
San Antonio, TX 1.88 .99 1.39
Pittsburgh, PA 1.45 1.19 1.85
Jackson, MS 1.98 .90 1.57
Ames, IA 1.71 .92 1.55
Cincinnati, OH 1.90 1.02 1.69
Atlanta, GA 1.75 1.24 1.63
Springfield, MO 1.86 .97 1.93
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filling the Gaps
Numerous Federal nutrition programs have gaps that food banks and
emergency agencies try to fill. In some cases benefits are not
adequate; in others administrative requirements and excessive
application and eligibility requirements are barriers.
I am not an expert on the SNAP program, but it seems clear that
benefits for many are not adequate for achieving a healthy and
nutritious diet. The examples from the Hunger Study that I cited about
why people needed food bank help illustrate the point that many SNAP
benefits do not last through a month.
I cannot help wondering if the basis for determining the benefit
levels and food plan for achieving a healthy diet is not part of the
problem. I understand that SNAP benefits for those with some income are
reduced on the basis of data from 50 years ago that showed American
households spent 30 percent of their income on food. The current
comparable figure is closer to 10%. If this is the case and if benefits
need to be reduced to reflect American food spending habits, it seems
to me that the more current lower percentage reduction makes more
sense.
Speaking of children, I also am troubled by the fact that so many
poor children are unable to access child nutrition programs during
periods when they are out of school, or after school. Vicki's testimony
refers to the millions of low-income children who do not have access to
Summer Food Service Programs when schools are not in session. Many poor
children also go without nutritious foods on weekends and holidays when
schools are not in session. Fewer children have access to the
nutritious foods provided by child care food programs because sponsors
are finding it difficult to operate programs under the unnecessarily
complex and confusing administrative requirements. Removing these
barriers seems to me an easy solution to this problem.
Finally, I applaud all efforts to improve people's understanding of
the relationship between good nutrition and good health. Nutrition
education is extremely important and I hope that funding will continue
for programs to help people understand the value of a balanced and
nutritious diet and how to achieve it.
Concluding Thoughts
I believe that all Americans should be able to eat healthy and
enjoy their food. That is why I have written about ``Real Life
Recipes,'' and authored the book, ``Now Eat This! 150 of America's
Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 calories.''
For me, cooking is a passion and food is the exciting ingredient.
For many, however, cooking is a chore and obtaining enough food is a
challenge. This is especially true for those without the resources and
time to spend finding the right foods to improve their diets. While we
may not be able to address all of the reasons why people do not have
access to healthy foods, we do know that a major reason is insufficient
income and resources. Given this, it seems reasonable to improve
nutrition programs so that those with limited means can enjoy the same
benefits of healthy and nutritious foods as you and I. More knowledge
about food and its safe handling and preparation is needed as well,
especially among those with limited incomes who cannot afford to make
bad choices.
Our nutrition programs can do more to educate children and their
parents on the value of nutrition and how to achieve a healthy diet on
a limited budget. The SNAP program can do more to make sure that
benefits truly reflect modern consumption and food expenditure patterns
and give people the information they need to make healthy choices.
Finally, our food banks need Federal support to obtain the nutritious
foods essential to a balanced diet, and the capacity to safely store
and distribute them.
I hope that the Committee will continue to work to examine Federal
nutrition programs with an eye toward improving the ability of families
to obtain the nutritious foods and the knowledge about a healthy diet
that is essential to a healthy life.
Thank you again, for inviting me to testify before your
Subcommittee on this important issue. I will be glad to answer any
questions you might have.
The Chairman. Next, I would like to call on Mr. Fortenberry
to introduce our next witness.
Mr. Fortenberry. Thank you. I would like to welcome Mr.
Randy Wattermann from West Point, Nebraska. Randy represents
the Nebraska Food Cooperative. He is the founding Chairman and
the current Treasurer of the Cooperative. He is a former Board
Member and Treasurer of the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture
Society. Randy also is the owner of a family business in West
Point, and his previous professional experience is in the field
of banking, and is currently in software technology.
Randy Wattermann holds a bachelor's of science with high
honors in agriculture and managerial economics from the
University of California-Davis. Again, he is from West Point,
where I was privileged to attend a big meeting last Saturday. I
would like to welcome you, and we look forward to your
testimony.
STATEMENT OF RANDALL WATTERMANN, FOUNDING
CHAIRMAN, MEMBER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND
TREASURER, NEBRASKA FOOD COOPERATIVE, WEST POINT, NE
Mr. Watermann. Thank you, Congressman Fortenberry, and
thank you, Chairman Baca, for inviting us. And following along
the In-N-Out theme, when I go back to visit my family in
California, I always make sure to visit an In-N-Out Burger at
least once. It is good.
Thank you for the introduction. I do live about an hour and
half north of Omaha, in rural northeast Nebraska, on a farm. So
I have a different perspective, having come from California. We
have been there now 12 years. So I have both the urban and the
rural perspective.
Early in 2005, at the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture
Society's Annual Conference, a group of Nebraskans, both
farmers and consumers, listened to Robert Waldrop, President
and Founder of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative, give an inspiring
address regarding his local foods vision and the experiences of
the startup of his co-op 3 years earlier in Oklahoma. So from
that beginning, our group in Nebraska was motivated to meet
over the next year as a steering committee to flesh out a
vision for a Nebraska version of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative.
Then a year later in 2006, we were incorporated. In July of
2006, the first delivery cycle was initiated and Nebraska's
online, year-round farmers market and local food distribution
service was launched.
From that initial order cycle that contained ten orders
totaling $326, the NFC has continued to grow to where our
recently completed cycle in April was 169 orders, sales over
$10,000. Over the past year, we crossed the $100,000 mark, and
Oklahoma is over the million dollar mark. So it does work to
bring together buyers and sellers of local foods.
So what exactly is our purpose at the Nebraska Food
Cooperative? Our mission statement says: To foster a local food
community, promote a culture of stewardship by cultivating
farmer-consumer relationships, promoting the enjoyment of
healthful food, increasing food security through diversity, and
enhancing overall rural sustainability.
So our goal is to create the market, bringing together
buyers and sellers in a way that would otherwise not take
place. In a rural state such as Nebraska, where the populace is
spread out over large distances, it becomes problematic for
direct-market producers to be physically present at farmers
markets each week in the population centers of Omaha and
Lincoln. You can't be both places at once. Instead, what we
have done is provide a method to list items available for sale
online and provide a method for transporting and distributing
those products when they are purchased. In doing this, we are
kind of reestablishing the semblance of the food distribution
infrastructure that existed decades ago--local products
consumed locally.
So how does the co-op work? Once a month during the winter
season, and then on a biweekly basis during the growing season,
the order window opens to start off the delivery cycle. During
the 1 week order window, shoppers peruse items online by each
producer. And not only are there item descriptions and there
are pictures available, but a questionnaire that is completed
by each producer that has items for sale so that they can
transparently provide the information to the shoppers. They can
make informed decisions as to which producers, which items for
sale best match with their individual standards, priorities,
needs, budgets, et cetera.
Once that 1 week order window comes to a close, the
producers then create a printout of all the items that have
been ordered from them. They print the routing labels from the
software online, and those goods are prepared for safe and
appropriate transport on delivery day to one of NFC's hubs.
Once those are checked in at the hubs, volunteers--this is a
volunteer organization--sort them by storage type--frozen, dry,
refrigerated--and get them ready for the customers to pick up.
Increasing food security through diversity is one of the
goals that we have. Increasing the number of local food
sources, increasing and regaining the knowledge of how to feed
ourselves locally enhances food security.
While the vast majority of food consumed by Nebraskans, I
understand, is, unfortunately, imported from other areas of the
country, having these alternate supply sources and delivery
methods protects against a future food security emergency in
the country or region. It also increases the viability of the
rural Nebraska economy, especially as fuel and transportation
costs continue to rise.
As the NFC's producers grow in quantity and in the
stability of our supply, the Cooperative looks for
collaborating with local institutional buyers. Right now we are
more retail-oriented, but we are talking to institutional
buyers and we have a few customers. But we are wanting to
increase to places like school districts, nursing homes,
restaurants, similar entities, to increase their awareness of
and willingness to consider purchase of locally produced meats,
vegetables, fruits, and other value-added products.
Congressman Fortenberry mentioned the Good, Fresh, Local
Sustainable Food Project by the UNL, University of Nebraska-
Lincoln's dining services. That is a great example of this. I
can go into that later in questions.
In the urban areas of the state, we continue to look for
opportunities to partner with organizations that reach out to
some of the underserved populations. One example is Community
CROPS in Lincoln, Nebraska, which works to create urban garden
plots for immigrants and other area residents, and then the
Food Co-op acts as one outlet for those producers to be able to
market some of the product they raise.
We also work with Together, Inc., of metropolitan Omaha to
create local food baskets which are donated to families in
need.
In Nebraska, outdoor farmers markets are limited by weather
to the May to October time frame. With our model we build on
that, making many local goods available year-round. As the
supply increases of produce, which is seasonal, we hope to have
availability of other frozen and canned products throughout the
winter months. Some of our near- and mid-term challenges evolve
around transitioning from an all-volunteer organization to one
with a sustainable business model. Towards that end, we are
looking at hiring a part-time general manager to oversee the
growth and organization of the Cooperative, once sufficient
funding can be identified. I think I will just leave it at
that.
In spite of the challenges we have, we know people want to
know more about our food. They want to know where it is coming
from, who is growing it. And the added benefit of supporting a
local economy by keeping a larger share of money circulating
closer to home is another motivating factor, as is increasing
our food security.
Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Waterman follows:]
Prepared Statement of Randall Wattermann, Founding Chairman, Member,
Board of Directors, and Treasurer, Nebraska Food Cooperative, West
Point, NE
Nebraska Food Cooperative--Past, Present, Future
Early in 2005, at the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society's
annual conference, a group of Nebraskans--farmers and consumers alike--
listened to Robert Waldrop, President and founder of the Oklahoma Food
Cooperative (www.oklahomafood.coop), give an inspiring address
regarding his local foods vision, and the experiences of the start-up
of the Co-op 3 years earlier. (Mark Hutchison, through the University
of Nebraska, Lincoln's Food Processing Center had conducted some
surveys and had arranged for Mr. Waldrop to come and speak. Mark also
continued to provide invaluable insight and guidance during the Co-op's
formative years.)
From that beginning, the group was motivated to meet over the next
year as a steering committee to flesh out a vision for a Nebraska
version of the Oklahoma Food Cooperative. A year later, the Nebraska
Food Cooperative (NFC) was incorporated. In July of 2006, the first
delivery cycle was initiated, and Nebraska's online, year-round
farmers' market and local food distribution service was launched!
From the initial order cycle that contained ten orders totaling
$326, the NFC has continued to grow to the point where the recently
completed delivery cycle on April 8, 2010, totaled 169 orders and sales
were over $10,700.
So what, exactly, is the NFC's purpose? Our mission statement is
``To foster a local food community and promote a culture of stewardship
by cultivating farmer-consumer relationships, promoting the enjoyment
of healthful food, increasing food security through diversity, and
enhancing overall rural sustainability.''
Our goal is to create a market--bringing together buyers and
sellers in a way that would otherwise not take place. In a rural state
such as Nebraska, where the populace is often spread out over large
distances, it becomes problematic for direct-market producers to be
physically present at farmer's markets each week in both Omaha and
Lincoln, where the main population centers are located. Instead, by
providing both a method to list items available for sale and a method
for transporting and distributing those products that are purchased,
the NFC has created a vehicle for re-establishing a semblance of the
food distribution infrastructure that existed decades ago--local
products consumed locally!
So how does the co-op work? Once a month during the winter and on a
biweekly basis during the growing season, an ``order window'' opens to
start off a ``delivery cycle.'' During the 1 week order window,
shoppers peruse online the items offered for sale by each producer. Not
only are item descriptions and pictures available, but a questionnaire
completed by the producer describes their operations, their
philosophies, and their practices. NFC's goal is to transparently
provide information to each shopper, so they can make informed
decisions as to which producers, and which items for sale, best match
with their individual standards, priorities, needs, budget, etc.
Once the 1 week order window comes to a close, the producers then
create a printout of all the items ordered from them, and they print
routing labels for each customer's goods. These goods are then prepared
for safe and appropriate transport on delivery day to one of NFC's
hubs, or are picked up by NFC's driver if they are located on or near
the existing delivery circuit.
Once the goods are checked in, volunteers sort them by storage type
(frozen, refrigerated, dry, etc.), by pick-up locations, and by
customer name. The orders are grouped and delivered to the various
pick-up points in Omaha, Lincoln, and surrounding area, and in the
evening the customers who placed orders stop by to pick up and pay for
their orders (payment via Paypal is also an option). Within several
days after the delivery cycle is completed, NFC mails payments to all
of the producers for their sales that month. Both shoppers and
producers pay a 10% invoice fee which funds NFC's operations and
overhead. While we are incorporated as a for-profit cooperative, at
this time our goal is to cover expenses plus any capital needs, rather
than looking to make a profit at the Co-op level.
Membership in NFC is available in several options:
(1.) Voting (must be Nebraska resident): $100.00 for one share of
common stock--plus $20.00 annual fee thereafter.
(2.) Non-voting: $40.00 annual non-voting member fee.
(3.) Visitor: No membership fee but $6.00 visitor fee will be added
to each order.
Members can be producers or shoppers both!
As described in the mission statement, increasing food security
through diversity is one of NFC's goals. Increasing the number of local
food sources, and increasing/regaining the knowledge of how to feed
ourselves locally enhances food security. While the vast majority of
food consumed by Nebraskans is, unfortunately, imported from other
areas of the country, having alternate supply sources and delivery
methods protects against a future food security emergency in the
country or region. It also increases the viability of the rural
Nebraska economy, especially as fuel and transportation costs continue
to rise over the long term, which causes foods trucked in from distant
areas of the country to increase in cost.
As NFC's producers grow in quantity and in the stability of their
supply, the cooperative looks forward to collaborating with local
institutional buyers such as school districts, nursing homes,
restaurants, and other similar entities to increase their awareness of
and willingness to consider purchase of locally produced meats,
vegetables, fruits, and other value-added products. In Nebraska, the
University of Nebraska, Lincoln's Dining Services has shown great
leadership in this area with the development of its extremely popular
``Good, Fresh, Local'' Sustainable Food Project. Periodically
throughout the school year, themed events are planned in the dining
commons that focus on Nebraska producers and the local products they
provide. This increases awareness among the college students of the
importance of supporting local farms and eating fresh, healthy foods.
In the urban areas of the state, NFC continues to look for
opportunities to partner with organizations that reach out to under-
served populations. One example is Community CROPS, located in Lincoln,
Nebraska, which works to create urban garden plots for immigrants and
other area residents. NFC serves as one outlet for those producers to
be able to market the products they raise. We've also worked with
Together, Inc. of Metropolitan Omaha to create local foods baskets,
which are donated to families in need.
In Nebraska, outdoor farmers markets are limited by weather to the
May-October timeframe. With NFC's model, many local goods are available
year-round, and as supply increases, we look forward to the
availability of frozen and/or canned produce being available during the
winter months.
Some of our near- and mid-term challenges revolve around
transitioning from an all-volunteer organization to one with a
sustainable business model. Towards that end, we are looking at hiring
a part-time general manager to oversee the growth and organization of
the cooperative, once sufficient funding can be identified.
Currently, NFC operates with two ``hub'' locations, one in Lincoln,
and one in Omaha, where producers drop off their orders for further
routing and distribution to final pick-up points. We have outgrown the
capacity of the two locations, and are contemplating the lease/purchase
of warehouse space in a rural community between Lincoln and Omaha,
thereby consolidating the distribution into one larger center, while at
the same time providing additional benefit to the local rural economy.
Looking forward, we hope to be able to expand our service westward,
with much interest currently being shown in the Kearney area.
We continue to collaborate with other organizations that are
supportive of reestablishing a local foods production and distribution
infrastructure. Challenges include raising sufficient equity capital to
fund planned growth, identifying and paying for the human resources
needed to execute NFC's plans and vision, and managing the continuing
challenges that producers face in complying with the increasing
regulatory burdens associated with the production of food of all
kinds--even on a small scale.
In spite of these challenges, demand for local, fresh, and
healthful products continues to outpace supply. People want to know
more about where their food comes from, and who is growing it. The
added benefit of supporting the local economy by keeping a larger share
of money circulating closer to home is another motivating factor, as is
increasing our food security.
The future for NFC looks bright, and we look forward to enjoying
the fruits of our success!
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Wattermann, for your
testimony this morning.
Next, I would like to call on the gentlewoman from
Pennsylvania to introduce our next witness. Mrs. Dahlkemper.
Mrs. Dahlkemper. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member,
Members of the Subcommittee, I am pleased to introduce our next
witness, a fellow Pennsylvanian, Mr. Jeffrey Brown.
Mr. Brown is a fourth generation grocer. He is President
and CEO of Brown's Super Stores, Inc., a growing ten store
supermarket chain trading under the ShopRite banner. His
company employs 2,100 associates and has been recognized as one
of the best places to work by the Philadelphia Business Journal
and the Philadelphia Inquirer, to only name a few.
Mr. Brown is an officer and Member of the Board of
Directors at the Philadelphia Youth Network, a Member of the
Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Food Merchants, and on
the Boards of both the New Jersey Food Council and the
Philadelphia Urban League. Furthermore, he was recently
recognized by the National Grocers Association as the 2010
recipient of the Thomas K. Zaucha Entrepreneurial Excellence
Award, a top national honor in the grocer industry. He has been
cited for his expertise in solving the food desert crisis
challenging so many low-income communities today.
Last, he is the founder and Chairman of Uplift Solutions, a
501(c)(3) public nonprofit formed to assist governments,
nonprofits, and food businesses in resolving food desert and
related challenges.
It is with pleasure that I introduce Mr. Jeffrey Brown.
The Chairman. Jeffrey, before you speak, I just wanted to
also state, I know Bobby Rush is here, and he complimented what
you are doing. I met with Secretary Vilsack this morning at 8
a.m., and he spoke very highly of you and your program. He says
that is a model that should be used everywhere throughout the
United States. So I was quite pleased to hear him, and I told
him you are going to be a witness here this morning.
STATEMENT OF JEFFREY N. BROWN, FOUNDER, PRESIDENT, AND CEO,
BROWN'S SUPER STORES, INC., WESTVILLE, NJ
Mr. Brown. Thanks for the feedback. What you are going to
find out is we are very dedicated to being right with all of
you, solving this food desert crisis.
With that being said, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and
distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for
inviting me to testify today.
Just a little background on the problem. Millions of low-
income Americans have inadequate access to fresh food at
competitive prices. We have already spoke that that is pretty
much how you define a food desert. This situation has resulted
in their obesity and the epidemic of their obesity being much
greater than our country's current problem of obesity.
I want to emphasize that this food desert situation is
real. I have seen it firsthand and have spent a good part of my
career trying to solve this problem in Philadelphia. The
Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative is a program that
has widely been recognized as the most effective effort in
ensuring that all communities have access to healthy food at
competitive prices. The food desert problem is being solved in
Pennsylvania, and I really do believe that this is a solvable
problem for our whole country.
The solution: I think a National Healthy Food Financing
Initiative would not only solve the food desert problem, but
would be a tremendous boost to our economy, as all of these new
supermarkets would employ people, would employ people to
construct them and service them and work the stores, certainly
something we could use today. The program would shift food
consumption towards fresh food, things like fruits and
vegetables, chicken and fish. And those foods would be grown by
our own American farmers.
So this is an idea that has so many paybacks for our
country. We already spend so much public money on trying to
address these very problems, but without allowing so many of
the low-income consumers a way to use what we have given them
effectively, a lot of what we have spent doesn't really solve
the problem. I am concerned if we don't fix this problem there
will be a continued deterioration of our health as a country,
and the financial burden of that on our healthcare system will
certainly affect every American.
When I talk about how to solve this problem, I think you
need to start out with the social problems, besides food
access, that exist in many low-income communities. They are a
burden on the citizens, but they are also a burden on the
businesses that try to serve the citizens. Such problems as
violence, drugs, excess high school dropout rates, all add to
the challenge of correcting this problem.
One of the complications of operating a successful
supermarket in this type of community is it usually requires
customization that many supermarket operators are currently
unfamiliar with and not organized to accommodate. The result of
these constraints is that inner city communities and lower-
income rural communities, as well, frequently pay the most for
food. It is disturbing. The smaller stores offer it at very
high prices, as I said.
In my own personal experience being involved in the
communities of the people I have served, I have learned a great
deal about how to operate successfully in the very communities
that many other supermarkets have been unable to operate, and,
at the same time, contribute to positive social change.
A close relationship and understanding of each community is
critical for our mutual success. Just to give you a little
background, our employees are all unionized. Our pay scale is
the same in urban lower-income communities as suburban
communities. We provide health benefits and other benefits
after a vesting period. We hire the majority of all of our
staff locally and have developed innovations in hiring and
training to include employees that were formally incarcerated,
which is another challenge in a lower-income community. We
employ about 250 people in each of our urban stores.
Since the creation of the Fresh Food Financing Initiative,
the four stores we have added have added 1,000 jobs to the City
of Philadelphia, directly related to having this program. Some
of these workers are working for the first time in their life,
and, as sad as it may seem, sometimes they are working for the
first time in their family's recent history.
I am now committed to helping solve this problem of food
deserts nationally. I have had hundreds of people from across
the country, including Secretaries of Agriculture and Commerce
visit my stores. Investors, state and city officials, and
community people from across the country have also been our
guests.
In order to further our efforts, last year we launched a
public 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Uplift Solutions. Uplift
Solutions provides technical advice and training to
governments, nonprofits, food retailers, and manufacturers
interested in getting on board to help us solve this problem.
It also is developing new innovations to solve some of the
social issues that make operating a grocery store so difficult
in these communities.
We are currently developing an in-store health clinic that
would offer services to help our clients make better eating
choices and get them authorized for the public assistance
programs that they are qualified for but often never sign up
for, like SNAP. I believe once they are signed up, their chance
of having a more productive diet would increase quite a bit.
As far as our recommendations, I recommend a bipartisan
approval of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative and related
2011 budget. On a technical matter, I suggest modifying new
market tax credits, which is part of the Healthy Food
Financing, not to be subject to alternative minimum tax,
similar to how historical tax credits work, because it makes a
very big difference in the amount of actual resources you have
to solve the problem.
I also suggest that the Department of Labor provide some
flexible training dollars to help the new supermarkets that get
created from the Healthy Food Financing to train their new
employees so they are equipped to keep those jobs and be
successful.
Thank you for your time and interest in solving our
country's food desert challenge. I look forward to answering
your questions; especially some of the things that were
questioned even in the earlier panel, I might be able to shed
some additional light in. I also want to encourage you to call
upon me if I can serve in any other way to help solve this
problem and even to come visit me in Philadelphia and let me
show you what we do. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Brown follows:]
Prepared Statement of Jeffrey N. Brown, Founder, President, and CEO,
Brown's Super Stores, Inc., Westville, NJ
Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee, thank
you for inviting me to testify. My name is Jeffrey Brown. I am
President and CEO of Brown's Super Stores, Inc, and a proud fourth
generation grocer who brings years of experience in the food business
to our discussion today. My family operates ten supermarkets trading
under the ShopRite banner in the Philadelphia region. We employ 2,100
people with locations in both suburban and inner city Philadelphia. In
addition to my role as CEO, I am on the Board of Directors of Wakefern
Food Corporation, the wholesale, marketing, and distribution arm for
ShopRite supermarkets. I have partnered and worked with the
Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI), which has been
recognized widely as the most effective effort at ensuring that all
communities have access to quality food. Moreover, I bring an
entrepreneurs view of how to solve the issue of `food deserts,' which I
define as neighborhoods with inadequate access to fresh food at
competitive prices.
I want to emphasize three things. First, the problem of food
deserts is real. Second, it is a problem that is being solved in
Philadelphia and can be solved throughout the United States. And
finally, the solution to this problem will have positive impacts on our
economy and more importantly, on the health of our citizens.
In my testimony today I will: explain some of the historical
constraints to success in cities; speak about how the Pennsylvania
program has worked; explain why a quality food market is an essential
element in re-building the social fabric and economy of many inner city
and rural communities; and ask for your support of a national Healthy
Food Financing Initiative, based on the Pennsylvania model.
Barriers to Urban Markets
There are a variety of reasons that supermarkets left many urban
areas. As families migrated to the suburbs, retailers followed to
pursue attractive modern retail developments. Available land in suburbs
allows for larger stores at competitive rents, free parking for
customers and a well-educated workforce. Conversely, real estate and
insurance costs in urban areas are higher and training an unprepared
workforce is more difficult. Social problems we read about everyday
such as violence, drugs, and high school dropout rates, also effect a
grocer's ability to operate a successful business. There is also a
belief by some businesses and lenders that urban investments will fail,
as many have in the past. Finally, there has often been a lack of
information about the opportunities in the city, including familiarity
with new, immigrant populations; an understanding of how much income
there really is that goes to food consumption and, an appreciation for
the possibilities of adapting suburban store models and inventory to
this new context.
The result of these constraints is that inner city communities are
frequently served only by small stores unable to offer the variety of
fresh foods that most of us take for granted. They offer food and other
goods at very high prices, resulting in the poor paying the most and
being restricted to a diet primarily made of processed foods that tend
to be higher in calories. As a result, some of our country's poorest
citizens living in these food deserts, have become sick and obese
placing additional costs on the healthcare system, and making it even
more difficult to rise above the challenges of poverty. This is not a
sustainable social situation. The goal of the FFFI was to understand
this problem and work with retailers throughout the state--urban and
rural--to solve the problem in a more socially optimal way.
The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative
I along with other supermarket operators met with state
Representative Dwight Evans from the Pennsylvania Assembly and Jeremy
Nowak, from The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), to brainstorm about how this
challenge might be overcome. We eventually mapped out the FFFI and I
became the first to test the program opening a store in Southwest
Philadelphia. This location had failed by a previous food retailer due
to gun violence in front of the store and other community challenges.
Today this store is successful, and I have become a true believer in
this program and its potential to improve our country.
FFFI is a collaboration of public, private, and civic institutions
created initially through the organizing efforts of The Food Trust. The
result was a public-private partnership where the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania invested an initial $30 million grant that was matched
with $90 million of private money raised by TRF. The match came from a
variety of sources including banks, investments through Federal New
Market Tax Credits, equity from the entrepreneurs, and even some
philanthropic resources.
Since 2004, the year of the FFFI launch, the program has approved
financing for 81 stores ranging from full-service 70,000 square foot
supermarkets to 900 square foot shops; and from traditional
entrepreneurs to co-ops and farmer's markets. This has resulted in
projects whose total development costs exceed $150 million, adding 1.5
million square feet of new development, creating approximately 4,800
full and part-time jobs, and improving the fresh food access to more
than 400,000 people. There are four things that account for the success
of the program:
(1) Smart Subsidy: Based on the analysis of development cost
obstacles, particularly in the inner city, FFFI provides both
flexible debt financing and small subsidy grants. The grants
were used to write down certain costs that entrepreneurs could
not reasonably incur. These costs included such things as
workforce training and land assembly.
(2) Flexible Financing: FFFI provides a range of financing products
from leasehold improvements and equipment loans to acquisition
and construction financing for both short term and permanent
uses. The financing is shaped around the need of the
entrepreneur and the requirements of other financing entities
involved in the project. While access to capital was less of an
issue 5 years ago when the program began, it has become a more
significant issue today, even for established, multi-store
operators.
(3) Market Expertise: The manager of the program--TRF--is one of
the nation's top community investment institutions. They are an
experienced business and real estate finance underwriter. They
approached FFFI as any good investor would and consequently
they have built a very strong track record of business
sustainability. This strong record can only be built by
identifying and supporting strong supermarket operators that
can adapt their business models to underserved communities.
(4) Impact Transparency: The program has been careful to count what
they finance in terms of job creation, commercial real estate
value, and total development costs. It has undertaken studies
on the impact of supermarkets on local housing values, cost
issues related to urban stores, and the location of employees
that receive retail jobs at the stores. My stores have
participated fully in these studies in order to help highlight
our success and educate others from the many challenges we all
face.
The Pennsylvania FFFI has provided financing for four of my stores.
They have enabled me to provide high quality goods and services to
communities that were not available prior to my entry.
A National Healthy Food Financing Initiative
The Pennsylvania FFFI has been cited as an innovative model by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National
Conference of State Legislatures, Harvard's Kennedy School of
Government, and the National Governors Association. All of us in
Pennsylvania are proud that the First Lady has pointed to our efforts
in Pennsylvania as a model that she wants to replicate, as part of her
anti-obesity effort. Access to fresh food is clearly one important part
of ensuring a healthier country, particularly at a time when we are
worried about the cost of healthcare and providing quality food
alternatives is essential.
A national program can build on the demonstrated successes of
Pennsylvania. Today there are a variety of states--Louisiana, Illinois,
New Jersey, and New York to name a few--that are already initiating
similar programs. A national effort could support those local efforts
with flexible capital. I am pleased that President Obama has called for
$400 million in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget--spread across Treasury,
USDA and HHS--to support local efforts. This effort has broad support
by civic groups, economic development agencies, and the retail trade
associations.
TRF recently developed a model that determined approximately 23
million Americans are living in communities without access to high
quality fresh food, the majority of which live in low-income
communities. TRF officials tell me that based on the metrics from the
Pennsylvania experience, each billion dollar Federal commitment, if
matched by an equal private sector investment, has the potential to
result in the following:
Improved access to healthy food for more than 15.3 million
people living in low/moderate income Census tracts.
The creation or improvement of more than 2,100 stores.
The creation or rehabilitation of nearly 50 million square
feet of retail space.
The creation and retention of 29,000 full-time and 119,000
part-time jobs.
The Brown's Super Stores Experience: Building Community Assets
As I became more involved in the life of the communities I serve, I
have learned a great deal about how we can operate a successful
business and also create positive community change through listening,
showing respect, and offering high quality products and service. A
close relationship with each community is critical to our mutual
success.
If you were to visit my store on 52nd and Jefferson Streets in West
Philadelphia you would think that you were in a high-end market. Our
stores have extensive varieties of fresh produce, meats, and fish, and
we sell our products at the same price and quality standards as our
suburban locations. The workers are well trained and courteous, with
union jobs offering the same pay scale as our suburban stores and
providing benefits after a short vesting period. We hire the majority
of our staff locally and have developed innovations in hiring and
training to include employees that were formerly incarcerated. Our
company also makes an effort to purchase merchandise from local
suppliers, including assisting many local minority entrepreneurs in
starting businesses to supply us with the unique merchandise our
customers prefer. We employ about 230 people in our West Philadelphia
store, many working for the first time and some working for the first
time in their family's recent history. The entry of our store, which is
on the site of a former industrial brownfield, enabled the development
of a Lowes Home Improvement store on the same site, along with dozens
of other retail stores. This store is a profitable and has improved the
lives of tens of thousands of its customers, employees and the
surrounding community.
UpLift Solutions: A New Resource to Help Overcome Food Desert
Challenges Nationally
I am now committed to helping solve the problem of food deserts
nationally. I have had hundreds of people from across the country,
including the Secretaries of Agriculture and Commerce, visit my stores.
Investors, philanthropists, city officials, and community people from
across the country have also been my guest at one or more of my urban
locations.
In order to further our efforts, last year I launched a public
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called UpLift Solutions
(www.upliftsolutions.org). Uplift provides technical advice to
governments, nonprofits, and food retailers/manufacturers interested in
helping to solve this problem. It is also developing new innovations
that can solve related social problems often found in low income
communities. These include programs to help improve safety and well
being of community members. We are currently developing an in-store
health clinic offering behavioral modification services and social
services to help our clients make better decisions to improve their
health and get the support of government sponsored benefits (like
SNAP).
Recommendations to the United States Congress
The team that invented and successfully implemented the FFFI in
Pennsylvania, including TRF and myself, worked with the White House
staff to develop the national program championed by The First Lady
Michelle Obama and incorporated in the President's 2011 proposed
budget. We recommend the following:
Bipartisan approval of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative
and related 2011 budget. This involves the 2011 budgets for the
Treasury, USDA and HHS.
Modify New Market Tax Credits so they are not subject to
alternative minimum tax, similar to how historic tax credits
currently function for income tax purposes. This change will
result in NMTC becoming more valuable.
Modify the Labor budget to allow for some flexible training
dollars to fund startup training for new supermarket employees
in low income communities, created by the healthy food
financing initiative. These employees require significantly
more training to get them to desired standards.
Create a budget in either USDA or HHS for flexible social
venture funding for innovative projects that have the potential
to increase our progress in solving food desert, related
unhealthy eating behavior or the lack of access to healthcare,
delivered thought expanded supermarkets servicing low income
communities. Our in-store clinic concept is a good example of
the kind of project that could improve the health of low income
Americans very effectively.
Thank you for your time and interest in solving our countries food
desert challenge. I look forward to answering your questions and I
invite you to come visit us in Philadelphia and see our operation first
hand.
The Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Brown.
Next, we have Diana Endicott, Farm to Market Coordinator,
Good Natured Family FarmsTM, Bronson, Kansas.
STATEMENT OF DIANA ENDICOTT, PRESIDENT AND FARM TO MARKET
COORDINATOR, GOOD NATURED FAMILY FARMSTM; MARKETING
MANAGER AND CO-OWNER, RAINBOW ORGANIC FARMS, d.b.a. GNFF,
BRONSON, KS
Ms. Endicott. Thank you, Chairman Baca and Members of the
Committee, for providing me the opportunity to be here today.
My name is Diane Endicott and I am the President and Farm to
Market Coordinator for Good Natured Family FarmsTM.
My husband Gary and I own and operate a 400 acre organic farm
in Bronson, Kansas, located about 80 miles south of Kansas
City. Our farm consists of beef cattle, hay and grain crops,
tomato greenhouses, and we also own and operate a USDA
federally inspected meat processing plant.
I am here today to share with you how Good Natured Family
FarmsTM has grown to include more than 150 local
family farms, selling $4 million of local farm fresh foods to
Ball's Food Store's 29 supermarkets located in Kansas City. In
addition, how we are creating our dream of making local farm
fresh foods making them available and affordable to vulnerable
communities and children at risk.
Good Natured Family FarmsTM is an alliance of
150 family farms. The farms range in size from truck gardens
and five head of cattle to thousand acre orchards and 200 head
cattle ranchers. Some of the farms are third- and fourth-
generation family farms, and others are young beginning
farmers.
Good Natured Family FarmsTM is also the brand
for the alliance. The 150 family farms grow and produce a full
line of local fruits and vegetables, all natural meats,
farmhouse cheeses, farm fresh milk, local honey, free range
eggs, tofu, jams and jellies, and other farm foods. Our market
for these farm fresh foods is a Kansas City, locally owned and
operated, third generation, 29 store supermarket chain called
Ball's Food Stores. The creation of the Good Natured Family
FarmsTM brand and our sound partnership with Ball's
Food Stores has established an effective model to bring locally
grown foods from small family farms to the mainstream
supermarket shelf.
The farm to supermarket shelf is a long way. From
production, grading, processing, packaging, aggregation,
distribution, to marketing, pricing, quality, and food safety,
the challenges are many and too numerous to cover here. I will
focus on two areas that help to ensure our success. First, Good
Natured Family FarmsTM alliance is, first and
foremost, about the farmers. We keep as much of the food dollar
at the farm as possible. Therefore, each of the farms own and
operate the facility where their locally grown food is
processed and packaged, or they use a small-sized local
processing facility. For example, the fruits and vegetables are
washed, graded, and packed on the farm.
The dairy farmers own and operate their milk and cheese
processing plants. And our farm processes all of the beef for
the all-natural beef co-op. In addition, the farmers maintain
ownership of the product from the farm to delivery at the
supermarket warehouse.
Second, and equally important, Ball's Food Stores owns and
operates a warehouse in Kansas City. This allows the farmers to
deliver their products to one central location, where Ball's
central warehouse distributes the local foods to the 29
supermarkets. Good Natured Family FarmsTM provides
the brand identity, coordination, quality standards, food
safety, pricing, labeling and other logistical needs. Good
Natured Family FarmsTM alliance had sales of $4
million in 2009. In addition to keeping 150 family farms
viable, we helped generate 30 jobs in small-scale rural
processing plants.
Now we are ready to use this model and provide the same
local farm fresh foods to Kansas City's vulnerable communities.
To achieve our goal, the Kellogg Foundation and the USDA's
Small Business Innovative Research is funding our project
called Good Food + Good Business = Food Futures. Good food is
defined as green, healthy, fair and affordable. The grants help
us conduct outreach, education, and logistics to effectively
reach vulnerable communicates.
The project has three methods to make locally grown food
available and affordable to vulnerable communities in Kansas
City's inner urban core. First, we are partnering with inner
city neighborhood churches to create the Good Food Box. This is
a box of farm fresh foods delivered to church members on a
weekly basis. Payment can be made using nutrition assistance
programs such as SNAP and WIC.
Second, we are teaming up with inner city businesses, such
as Hallmark Cards, to expand our workplace wellness Community
Supported Agriculture Program.
Third, we are expanding our Farm to School Program, called
BistroKids, at Head Start Center's Title I schools.
The process to make the food affordable is what we call the
art of the supply chain: Own the warehouse and distribution and
shorten the supply chain. By going directly to the consumer,
distribution ad retail margins can be adjusted, allowing us to
reach vulnerable communities.
The main hurdle Good Natured is working on to overcome is
the purchase of a refrigerated warehouse and distribution
center in Kansas City's inner city Green Impact Zone. Ball's
central warehouse is at full capacity. Therefore, in order to
grow, Good Natured Family FarmsTM will need to have
an additional warehouse and distribution facility. The dilemma
is getting financing for the bricks and mortar. To help us with
this, we are in the process of applying for a USDA Rural
Development Business and Industry Loan and seeking other loans
and/or grant funds for startup operational costs.
The warehouse and distribution bottleneck is being
experienced by many local farms and marketing groups across the
country. A for-profit producer and employee-owned and operated
local food warehouse and distribution center in Kansas City's
urban Green Zone will, number one, provide jobs in the urban
core; two, allow the farmers to keep more of their food dollar;
three, provide a bridge to connect the urban and rural
communities; and, most importantly, will start the
transformation of a food system to one that supports the health
and well-being of our most vulnerable communities and children
at risk.
I want to thank you for allowing me to share our story with
you. I hope it will shed some light on the need of local food
warehouses and distribution centers to make local farm fresh
foods available, accessible, and affordable to our most
vulnerable communities.
We are also attaching a document for the record, including
a graphic describing Good Natured Family FarmsTM
Local Supply Network from production to consumption; a
description of our vulnerable community program's outreach; and
information about a vision for a warehouse for local food
distribution in the Kansas City Green Impact Zone. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Endicott follows:]
Prepared Statement of Diana Endicott, President and Farm to Market
Coordinator, Good Natured Family FarmsTM; Marketing Manager
and
Co-Owner, Rainbow Organic Farms, d.b.a. GNFF, Bronson, KS
Good morning, Chairman and Members of the Committee. Thank you for
addressing such a timely and important topic of the access and
availability of healthy food to our families most in need. My name is
Diana Endicott; I am the President and farm to market coordinator of
Good Natured Family FarmsTM (GNFF). My husband, Gary, and I
own and operate a 400 acre organic farm in Bronson Kansas, located 80
miles south of Kansas City. Our farm consists of beef cattle, hay and
grain crops, tomato greenhouses, and we also own and operate a USDA
federally inspected meat processing plant. I am here today to share
with you how Good Natured Family FarmsTM has grown to
include more than 150 local family farms selling $4 million of local
farm fresh foods to Balls Food Stores 29 supermarkets located in Kansas
City. In addition, how we are creating our dream of making our local
farm fresh foods available and affordable to vulnerable communities and
children at risk.
Good Natured Family FarmsTM is an alliance of over 150
local family farms. An alliance is an interconnected network of family
farms to pursue common goals and to meet critical business needs while
remaining independent family farms. Under the Good Natured Family
FarmsTM' alliance umbrella there are various business forms,
including; cooperatives, Amish and Mennonite communities, individual
family farms, family farms who have pooled their resources together to
form corporations or LLCs, and even nonprofits. The 150 family farms
are located within a 200 mile radius of the Kansas City metro area. The
farms range in size from truck gardens and five head of beef to 1,000
acre orchards and 200 head cattle ranches. Some of the farms are third
and fourth generation family farms and others are young beginning
farmers.
Good Natured Family FarmsTM is also the brand for the
alliance. The 150 family farms grow or produce a full line of fruits
and vegetables, all-natural meats, farmhouse cheeses, farm fresh milk,
local honey, free range eggs, tofu, jams and jellies, and other farm
fresh foods. Our market for these farm fresh foods is a Kansas City
locally owned and operated third generation 29 store supermarket chain
`Balls Food Stores'. The creation of the Good Natured Family
FarmsTM brand and our sound partnership with Balls Food
Stores has established an effective model to bring locally grown food
from small family farms to mainstream supermarket shelves.
From the farm to the supermarket shelf is a long way. From
production, grading, processing, packaging, aggregation, distribution,
to marketing, pricing, quality, and food safety; the challenges are
many and too numerous to cover at this time. I will focus on the two
areas that have help ensure our success. First, Good Natured Family
FarmsTM alliance is first and foremost about the farmers. We
keep as much of the food dollar at the farm as possible. Therefore,
each of the farms owns the facility where their locally grown food is
processed and packaged or uses a small-size local processing facility.
For example, the fruits and vegetables are washed, graded and packed on
the farm, the dairy farmers own and operate their milk and cheese
processing plants, and our farm processes all of the beef for the beef
co-op. In addition, the farmers maintain ownership of the product to
the point of delivery to the supermarket warehouse. Second, and equally
as important, Balls Food Stores owns and operates a warehouse in Kansas
City. This allows the farmers to deliver their products to one central
location where Balls Central Warehouse distributes the local foods to
their 29 supermarkets. Good Natured Family FarmsTM provides
the brand identity, coordination, quality standards, food safety,
pricing, labeling, and other logistical needs.
The Good Natured Family FarmsTM alliance had sales of $4
million in 2009. In addition to helping keep 150 family farms viable,
we helped generate approximately 30 jobs in small scale rural community
processing plants.
Now, we are ready to use this model and provide the same local farm
fresh foods to Kansas City's vulnerable communities. The W.K. Kellogg
Foundation is funding our project called Good Food + Good Business =
Good Futures; good food is defined as green, healthy, fair, and
affordable.
To achieve our goal to make good food accessible to the vulnerable
community and children at risk the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and USDA
SBIR is funding our project called Good Food + Good Business = Good
Futures; good food is defined as green, healthy, fair, and affordable.
The project has three methods to make locally grown food available and
affordable to vulnerable communities in Kansas City's inner urban core.
First, we are starting a program to identify opportunities to match
local family farm producers and consumers living in those food deserts.
We are partnering with Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council and creating the
Good Food Box--a program that will empower the faith-based community to
work with Good Natured Family FarmsTM and distribute Good
Food to their congregation.
Second, we are teaming-up with Hallmark Cards to expand our
Community Supported Agriculture, and their employees joining the CSA
may choose to sponsor Good Food Boxes for a limited number of families
living in vulnerable communities.
Third, we are expanding our Farm to School program at Plaza de
Ninos where BistroKids' talented staff worked with Guadalupe Center and
Family Conservancy to bring Good Food to Head Start children.
The main hurdle Good Natured Family FarmsTM alliance is
working to overcome is the purchase of a refrigerated warehouse and
distribution center in Kansas City's Green Impact Zone. Balls Central
Warehouse is at full capacity; therefore, in order to grow, Good
Natured Family FarmsTM will need to have an additional
warehouse and distribution facility. We are in the process of applying
for the USDA Rural Development Business and Industry Loan and seeking
other loan and/or grant funds for startup operational cost.
To commercialize and make the Good Natured Family
FarmsTM program economically sustainable, we have been
blessed to have the support of several USDA grants and loans. Our main
support is the often overlooked Small Business Innovative Research
program (SBIR). In addition, we have utilized USDA SARE, USDA VAPG, and
Kansas Agriculture Product Development loan program.
However, the dilemma is these USDA programs and the Kellogg
Foundation does not provide grants or loans for bricks and mortar. This
warehouse and distribution bottleneck is being experienced by many
local farm and marketing groups across the country. A producer and
employee owned and operated local food warehouse and distribution
center in Kansas City's urban green zone will provide jobs in the urban
core, allow the farmers to keep more of their food dollar, provide a
bridge to connect the urban and rural communities, and most importantly
start the transformation of a food system to one that supports the
health and wellbeing of our most vulnerable communities and children at
risk.
I want to thank you for allowing me to share our story with you. I
hope it will shed some light on the need of local food warehouse and
distribution centers to make local farm fresh foods available,
accessible, and affordable to our most vulnerable families.
Please visit http://ngfn.org/resources/research-1/innovative-
models/ and see what the Wallace Center has published about our work.
Also, additional information can be found at (http://goodnatured.net)
and (www.henhouse.com).
We are also attaching a document for the records including a
graphic describing GNFF local supply network from production to
consumption; a description of our vulnerable communities program; and
information about our vision for a warehouse for local food
distribution at the Kansas City Green Impact Zone.
Thank you!
Attachment
Rainbow Organic Farms (ROF) d.b.a. Good Natured Family
FarmsTM (GNFF) Local Supply Network from production
through consumption.
Thank you very much, Ms. Endicott.At this time we will begin with
a series of questions. I will recognize myself. Each of the other
Members will have 5 minutes to ask a question as well. I will begin
with Ms. Krieger.
Thank you for your thoughtful testimony. It is critical to have an
example of healthy dieting and cooking in the mainstream media. And we
are all thankful for the lessons you have shown and have taught
millions of viewers not only from the nutritional standpoint, but for
teaching us how to cook. Some of us have never cooked before. By
watching your show, at least one can learn to cook. I think our
significant others would appreciate it if we did do more of that
cooking in a healthy way.
With that, I would like to begin by asking the first question. It
seems that you have a very comprehensive show on the Food Network. How
do you suggest that we educate and pass on information on nutrition you
and the network offer to people without access to cable network or
Internet?
Ms. Krieger. Well, Internet is available at libraries, of course,
so that is always a possibility.
But, I mean, so offering this programming essentially is what you
are asking----
The Chairman. Yes, to----
Ms. Krieger.--but for people who don't have access.
The Chairman. Access to a cable network. You have a great program,
but a lot of them don't have access to it. So what do you suggest that
we do?
Ms. Krieger. Right. I mean, not being an executive of the Food
Network, I can't really answer how they would distribute their
programming in those venues.
But we can, sort of, take those inspiring cooking lessons and bring
them to schools as part of the nutrition education and get families
involved on that level, having parents and kids cooking together and
using cooking as an education tool, as a hands-on experiential
education tool. So, yes, we are doing that with the farms in the
schools. And Food Network has these Good Food Gardens at Share our
Strength.
But even bringing this hands-on passion, it is about--and one of
the things that television does very well is inspire passion, inspire
people to act. I think we can bring that passion into this hands-on
activity to help inspire children to eat healthfully. I know my
daughter, when I cook with her, she wants to try it. She wants to have
her dad try it. She is excited about it.
I think harnessing that passion for cooking that people have from
the media or wherever they have seen and bringing that into the schools
where it is really--and other programs, other community programs.
The Chairman. Okay. Ellie, you mentioned your daughter. Given your
hands-on experience at your daughter's school, what, if any, obstacles
have you encountered that we as a legislative body can address?
Ms. Krieger. Yes, thank you for asking that.
I was really amazed to be at this ground level and see what is it
taking to make changes in her school. I think really I am shocked at
the facility, the lack of facilities to prepare healthy food. I
actually offered to donate a steamer to the school, and there is just
no room for it because the kitchen is the size of a walk-in closet.
And I feel like we really need to look at that whole chain when we
are asking these people--now they are not going to open up, maybe, a
bag of something and just put it on a tray and bake it. They are going
to be asked to peel vegetables or do other food prep techniques. There
may be different storage facilities. I think those sort of facilities
are very important to consider. Some schools have more than others. She
is at an older school; the building is very old. But I think that is
one thing.
And then, also having professional expertise to help implement some
of these nutrition policies and education, so that we can say, all
right, we want however many hours of nutrition education in the schools
or we would like people to start their wellness policies, but who is
doing this? And so, in her school, we are fortunate enough--I am a
nutrition professional and cook, and, actually, another one of the
other parents who is on the nutrition committee, the wellness
committee, is a professor of nutrition at Columbia. And we are putting
our hours into this. What do schools do that don't have that kind of
human resource?
And so I feel that, even if there were district-wide nutrition
wellness professionals, cooks, some combination of health professional,
to help facilitate these changes in the school, because you have to
have the people to do it.
The Chairman. Okay. Thank you.
And I know that we all have a lot of questions, and I am going to
ask my next question for Rocco.
In your experience as a chef, working around people and food, what
are the best ways for us as a society to get people, especially those
in underserved communities, to better invest in what type of food they
eat and how these foods are prepared?
Mr. DiSpirito. I think, as Ellie mentioned, schools are a great
opportunity. I have participated in a number of in-school programs,
from Days of Taste to other ones where you get chefs like me--and there
are a lot of us who are willing to go in and teach people how to cook.
It is what we do for a living. It is what we love to see. It makes us
happy to watch other people cook and eat. I think there are thousands
of chefs just like me and just like Ellie who would be willing to go in
and teach kids how to cook.
I work with Dr. Oz. You mentioned him earlier. He has a
HealthCorps, and he hosts Teen Iron Chef, and it is one of the most
exciting things that has happened to these kids. And I see tremendous
eagerness on the part of children to learn how to cook, a willingness
to experiment with vegetables and fruits. And, with some ingenuity,
chefs like us can actually disguise some of the fruits and vegetables
and turn them into interesting foods for these kids.
I think that they can bring those lessons home to their parents. I
think a lot of times the kids that we are talking about have parents
that are working, both parents that are working or a single-parent
home. And those parents need to relearn the culture of cooking for your
family. And it can come from, sort of, the bottom up, the children to
the parents, instead of the other way around.
You know, cooking for another human being is one of the nicest
gestures you can make. There are very few things that you can do that
show how much you care and love and want to nurture someone than to
feed them something. You know, a baby is born, the first thing that
happens is it gets fed. And to think that in such a wonderful country
that there are people who don't have that opportunity every single day
is really heartbreaking.
I know part of it is the education on cooking and what is
nutritious and how do you prepare nutritious meals. But the other half
of that is getting the food to the people who need it. So I am a big
fan of volunteering, and I know all of my peers are, as well, and
volunteer consistently.
I think what we would love to see is a bigger program that we can
all be a part of that maybe is government-sponsored and run, starts
with the Federal Government, a national kind of program that we can all
be a part of. Because there are a lot of local, small, individual
things going on, and there might be an economy of scale and a benefit
to the country as a whole if there were a larger organization that we
could all give our time to.
Does that answer your question?
The Chairman. Yes. Thank you very much.
And I know that I have run out of time, so at this time I will call
on Mr. Fortenberry of Nebraska.
Mr. Fortenberry. Great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you all for your very insightful testimony and your passion
for this very important topic. If I don't get to ask you all a
question, I am grateful for your input here. It has been a very good
hearing thus far.
Ms. Krieger, let me also direct a first comment to you, as well. I
also have a 7 year old daughter. I think you would be pretty proud to
know that, as I was scrambling to get out of the house yesterday to
catch a flight fairly early, at 7 a.m., she looked up at me and--she
was in the kitchen, and she said, ``Daddy, can I cook an egg for you?''
So that is not to credit anything to me; that is my wife's good
management of the household.
But, nonetheless, families are busy. I think there is a growing
awareness, I know there is a growing awareness and a desire among many
people to eat more healthfully and embrace a more holistic lifestyle,
particularly in terms of nutrition. But there is always a constraint on
time, and then there is the drive-through, and good intentions
sometimes get diverted.
Make a little bit of this practical, if you can, some just easy,
practical formatting changes for lifestyle distinctions any of you
might want to add. If any of you have any other comments in that
regard, it might be helpful.
Ms. Krieger. I think we make it more complicated than it needs to
be. Simple food is delicious food. So if you take a piece of salmon and
you put it on the grill and it takes 4 minutes to cook and you sprinkle
some lemon juice on it, that is a healthy start to your dinner, with a
side of broccoli that has been steamed and maybe sprinkled----
Mr. Fortenberry. Does it have to be broccoli?
Ms. Krieger. No. Well, what is your favorite vegetable? Whatever it
is. Fresh green beans or cherry tomatoes cut up, drizzled with a little
bit of olive oil.
The Chairman. Remember, Rocco said disguise it.
Ms. Krieger. And, actually, I sometimes sneak vegetables in, but I
think we don't give our children enough credit. One nutrition education
plan that I have organized is--and I actually had the fortune to bring
to the front lawn at Michelle Obama's Healthy Kids fair was, ``Eat the
rainbow every day.'' So if we don't tell our kids, ``Eat your
vegetables'' or ``You might not like them, but eat them because they
are good for you,'' if we take this approach of exploring food texture,
taste, some you are going to like, some you not, your tastes might
change. Eat the rainbow every day, and take this passionate approach to
it--that translates to them. I have seen that firsthand. So there is
that.
But, one of the things I do is give pantry lists, for example. Keep
this in your pantry; then when you are in a pinch, you can create a
healthy meal in 10 minutes with these items. Say, some whole grain
pasta and some frozen shrimp and a can of low-sodium tomatoes. You can
make a wonderful meal. So it doesn't have to be complicated.
And breaking it down, absolutely. And that is what these classes,
theoretically, should really be doing. And, actually, I neglected to
mention a program that I think is a wonderful program, Operation
Frontline'. The Food Network is now partnering with Share
Our Strength. And this is exactly what they are doing. They are doing
programs in the community centers, in schools, with families, children
and parents, and they are bringing this passion for cooking, teaching
these skills with affordable, readily available foods. And then what
they are doing is, ultimately, the data is really showing an increase
in consumption of fruits and vegetables, an increase in cooking at
home. I think these programs can make a really big difference. I think
we have a good, kind of, start with this Operation
Frontline'.
Mr. Fortenberry. Excellent. I think your pointing out that only two
percent of the children have a healthy, balanced diet in spite of all
of our efforts is a very important finding from the hearing.
Let me turn quickly to Randy Wattermann.
Again, Randy, thank you for being here. You talked about the growth
of the Nebraska Food Cooperative. But growth, in terms of trajectory of
sales, do you have some ideas of what we are looking at here? And then
how do you advertise or make consumers, as well as producers, aware of
the potential linkages that can occur there?
Mr. Wattermann. Sure. The Oklahoma model was about 3 years ahead of
us, and so we looked to them for our trajectory. So we are at $100,000
now, and they are at about a million now. So we hope to continue on our
trajectory, probably at a little bit slower pace because we are all-
volunteer, even the board. You know, we don't have somebody that is
being able to put their full time to it. We have looked into grants and
things. And one of the more difficult things is to actually find a live
person to run something. So instead, we have to do the piecemeal
approach, which is fine. I mean, we are growing, we are happy with it.
But that is where our trajectory is going.
As far as getting the word out, we measure every single
registration that comes in as to how are people hearing, how are people
signing up, how are people registering to become a member. And online
searches is the number one thing. I mean, there are people looking for
``local food, Nebraska'' and we come up. I mean, we are not even at the
point where we are trying to be proactive in our search engine
optimization or anything like that. We are just out there, and they are
finding us.
But then the standard things are articles in the local newspaper,
just continuing to network with people in different organizations in
Omaha and Lincoln to let everybody know that we are out there.
Mr. Fortenberry. Great. Okay. Thank you.
Quickly, Ms. Endicott, you gave a fascinating overview of this new
form of cooperative that you have developed with the family farm
network, the Good Natured Family FarmsTM.
You talked about the barrier in terms of a stocking facility or
warehousing facility. But talk about the barriers for a smaller farm
that might want to participate in such a new market concept, but in
terms of setting up its own processing facility.
Ms. Endicott. A couple of things is: Number one is being able to
understand the rules and regulations that they need to meet. And then
the second thing would be, after they understand the needs, the
requirements, it would be access to capital, especially in the rural
areas. Our banks are set up to not fund that type of agriculture. It is
a greater risk type of agriculture, type of processing or value-added
agriculture.
So I think that those would be the main two, would be understanding
the rules and regulations and then access to capital, specifically with
our banking system not being set up to fund those kinds of endeavors.
Mr. Fortenberry. Do you find a growing interest among small- as
well as medium-sized farmers, even potentially large farms, in
undertaking such a new value-added type of enterprise?
Ms. Endicott. Across the board, yes. Even some of the larger, what
we call mid-tier-range farms, when it gets into processing, access to
capital is continuing to be--even with, like, the Business and Industry
Loans with Rural Development, even the Federal, the guaranteed loans,
there still is hesitance out there in the rural communities, especially
in the Midwest. I mean, I am speaking for our area. We are not on the
East Coast or the West Coast, but in the Midwest there is a reluctance
because we are grain and cattle.
Mr. Fortenberry. Are you seeing the growing demand, though, as
mitigating that risk potential?
Ms. Endicott. We have the market. The market demand is there. I
still continue to think that access to capital is going to continue to
be a problem. I have not really seen any change in access to capital.
Mr. Fortenberry. All right. Thank you very much.
The Chairman. Thank you.
I know that if we have a chance to ask a second series of
questions, we will go around and ask some additional questions. So, at
this time, I would like to call on the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania,
Mrs. Dahlkemper.
Mrs. Dahlkemper. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
During the first panel, I made a comment that it is going to take
all of us together to solve these eating, food, wellness issues. And we
have the media, we have private enterprise, we have the agriculture
industry, we have a nonprofit--well, I guess you are a for-profit in
your cooperative; is that true, Mr. Wattermann?
Mr. Wattermann. Well, yes, we are operating like a nonprofit, but
we are a----
Mrs. Dahlkemper. Well, anyway, it is going to take all of us to
come up with the solutions to move ahead.
I do have a few questions.
Mr. Brown, I am from Pennsylvania. There may be a lot of people in
this room who don't really understand Pennsylvania. I live in Erie. So
I am farther away from Philadelphia than I am here in Washington to
Erie. So it is quite a distance. I will come down, though, to visit
your stores. I am looking forward to that.
The PA FFFI, the Fresh Food Financing Initiative. I know that it
has been an issue--it has been around for, what, 3, 4----
Mr. Brown. Seven years.
Mrs. Dahlkemper. Seven years, okay. Well, in my area of
Pennsylvania, nobody is really participating. And it seems a lot of,
kind of, north of I-80, I guess I will say, the northern tier of the
state is not participating as much.
What do you see as the issues with that? And, as we would possibly
look at going Federal with this type of program, what would be the
issues?
Mr. Brown. Well, it is interesting, there are obstacles to making
this work, and some of the obstacles aren't related to the money
itself. There could be assistance that people need, and that is one of
the reasons we set our nonprofit up, is to go and look at what the
obstacle goals are and see if we can't figure out a way to overcome
them.
The other thing is coordination of everyone's effort is a big
issue. The Federal program that is considered, resources are coming
from three different agencies or departments of the government. And it
is important we figure out how to coordinate everything in a central
point, because, again, grocers are hesitant to do this. And if we can,
let's say, for example, let the CDFI be the ultimate coordinator with
the goals that we all have in mind, they could try to help.
And I know that, in Pennsylvania, Representatives and Senators have
called me and said, ``Hey, I am in an area that doesn't have any
stores, has a big food desert. Can you come up and take a look?'' And I
have worked through Representative Evans and others to see if we can't
figure something out. I know in Pittsburgh we were able to get a store
in an area that didn't have one before.
So I think that the one key learning of this is, there are a lot of
obstacles to do this and there aren't a lot of experts. But we are
trying to build up the capacity to provide that implementation
expertise that is needed and why your area didn't get what it was
needed, in my view.
Mrs. Dahlkemper. I appreciate that. And I appreciate you beginning
that nonprofit and being there to assist others in this endeavor.
I want to talk to Ms. Escarra a bit about the Feeding America,
Second Harvest Food Bank, which I used to know. And, as I know, you
changed your name recently. Actually, Sister Christine Vladimiroff is
from my hometown of Erie, and she was Executive Director there for a
while. So I am very familiar with your organization. And we have a very
large Second Harvest Food Bank in my hometown of Erie that serves quite
a few different counties.
You talked about the Federal commodities, and let me just ask you
about that. As you are looking forward, what changes would you like to
see in terms of being able to provide healthier foods, increasing the
food that you have available to you, in terms of Federal policy?
Ms. Escarra. So, I would begin by saying that we have worked really
hard to have a good relationship with USDA, and have one and are
thankful for that. As I mentioned, there is so much produce that
currently is grown but not produced. And so we are working closely with
them to get more fresh fruits and vegetables into our network. You
know, close to 500 million pounds went in this past year. But there is
a huge opportunity with regard to that.
I also mentioned that we saw a nice increase, clearly from the work
that was done by Congress on the farm bill with USDA. But also I saw
some increases right at $250 million with the stimulus package. Our
food banks will really need that assistance as that money is starting
to come down, all of which provides a very, for the most part, shelf-
stable, good, healthy food for families that need it.
Just a quick closing, kind of, comment to answer your question. I
feel a real need to say this. You know, there are 17 million children,
almost one in five children in this country today are living with food
insecurity. That is a national crisis. It is one that I can tell you we
take really seriously. And so, trying to find a way to not only provide
healthy food to them but to provide access to them is a critical issue
on our agenda.
The final thing I wanted to mention, in line with Ellie, is we are
doing a piece of work with Sesame Street which really gets at the
question that was brought up earlier around families that don't have
access to TV. Sesame Street is doing a full media campaign in working
with many of us that will get food out, targeted at children between 0
and 5, families that support them, caregivers, grandparents. But it
goes across all media--print, out of home, radio, television.
And I can tell you, I have two daughters; my kids grew up with
Sesame Street. It is a great brand. It really is going to get at food
insecurity, nutrition, and obesity all at once, because they are all
connected.
Mrs. Dahlkemper. Well, thank you very much. And thank you for
mentioning those 17 million children. Because we can talk about
percentages, and maybe it doesn't seem that high. But when you talk
about 17 million children in a country as wealthy as we are, it just
should never be.
But thank you very much to all the witnesses.
The Chairman. Thank you.
And, again, I want to thank all of the witnesses.
I have some additional questions I would like to ask. I would like
to start with Mr. Brown.
You know, in Pennsylvania, the Fresh Fruit Financing Initiative
seems to have found a concrete way to tackle the issue of food deserts.
And I am pleased to hear this. This is a business model that the White
House is interested in expanding on a national level.
Can you explain for the Subcommittee, what are the standards the
FFFI currently has in place to ensure that businesses that apply for
financing are committed to providing healthy, nutritional, fresh
fruits?
Mr. Brown. A big part of success is the design, and it is the
simplicity of the design and the flexibility of it. What the state did
was pick a CDFI they trusted that had good judgment and said, ``Go find
the operators that can be sustainable and successful but also deliver,
not only fresh food, but the ones who will have the best impact on the
local communities they serve without the existence of a lot of hard
rules.''
And so, the reinvestment fund, the CDFI in Pennsylvania went and
looked for projects. And if they didn't believe the entrepreneur was
going to be successful, or they didn't believe the entrepreneur was
going to care about the community, they didn't choose that project. And
when we look at a national initiative, I think the whole success is
based on picking the right CDFI and having them understand the concept
of what we want to get done.
The reason I think that is so important is because this is so
complicated that flexibility is so important to doing this. And if the
CDFI we picked did things we don't like, we should fire them and get
someone new for the subsequent budget year, and hold them accountable
to get us the results we want.
The Chairman. Okay. Thank you.
This is a question I have for all of you. Any of you that want to
jump in and give an answer, I would appreciate that.
Unfortunately, most SNAP recipients have a limited amount of
benefits, and we all know that, each month they must stretch in order
to provide enough food for their households. So they buy a lot of
starch food. This means that they have less healthy options. I know
many of our SNAP recipients would love to buy fruits and vegetables if
they could more easily afford them. And think of all the seniors out
there who would want more fresh blueberries to help their memory.
So my question for you is a big one. What can we do to make
nutritious food, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, more
affordable?
Mr. Brown. Why don't I start out?
One of the things I would like to see is, I would like to be able
to work with the USDA a little closer and to experiment with some
ideas. I think we could come up with a way to do that besides fresh
fruit financing. But I have to say, fresh fruit financing, a national
program, would certainly do that. Because what we sell fresh fruit and
vegetables for, meats and poultry and whatnot, a lot cheaper than any
other option they have ever had before, because we are a large grocery
store that is built to do volume. We need to sustain our model, do
enough volume. And we do that through having competitive prices.
So I really do think that, as these thousands of grocery stores
that we are missing get built, you are going to see the prices of these
commodities come way down.
The Chairman. And many of our seniors would like to participate,
but they know very well they are limited based on their income--fixed
income--and the dollars that are available. And they are trying to
stretch, because, as it was stated earlier, some of them are having to
pay their mortgage, their payments, their electricity bill,
prescription drugs that they have. And all of a sudden we are trying to
say, all right, seniors, we want you to maintain a healthy environment
because, if not, then the cost of the burden falls back on us in the
health area, because ultimately we end up paying, as taxpayers, one way
or the other.
Would anybody else would like to address that?
Mr. Brown. I would like to just add one more comment. I am sorry if
I interrupted anyone.
There was a question about whether we saw a causal relationship
between people's health and their obesity, if there are any studies or
facts that existed. And I just wanted to let you know that PolicyLink
issued a study of all the studies. And it ends up, over 20 years, there
are 132 studies that documented a causal relationship between the lack
of having a grocery store with competitive prices and people's weight.
And so I would like to submit for the record their work, which I
think is probably the ultimate authority today on this issue. So we
have this here for you guys.
The Chairman. Okay. Thank you.
[The document referred to is located on p. 88.]
Ms. Escarra. So, I have two points I would like to make.
The first is I would like to really answer the question from the
back-end first, and that is that \2/3\ of the Americans that live in
this country that qualify for SNAP--only \2/3\ are actually signed up.
There is another third that we really need to do more to get them
involved in benefits.
Because if you look at the benefits, they have certainly improved
with the latest farm bill and the stimulus package, but still a family
of four that is living right at 130 percent of the poverty line, which
is what qualifies for SNAP, is really making about $28,000 a year and
they get benefits of about $325 a month. So stretching those dollars is
important.
I won't get into the economic return to the economy because it is
one of the more positive stories. But the thing that I would offer is,
we need to get more corporate involvement in helping us really bring
that produce in to communities that need it. And we have a lot of
corporations today that are interested in partnering with us. As the
hearing began, this is not a situation that is going to take place with
any one entity working; it is going to take all of us working together.
More and more corporations are stepping up to bring produce to families
that need the help.
The Chairman. Okay. Thank you.
And here is a question that I would like to address to all of you.
Any one of you can answer this.
As we all know, nutrition education and modeling of healthy eating
behavior in our schools is vitally important to winning the fight
against child obesity. We now see most of our children--of course, we
have talked earlier about the lack of exercise, the lack of activity
that is going on within the schools.
But what, in your opinion, is the most necessary policy change that
we must have--and I state ``that we must have''--in the upcoming Child
Nutrition Act reauthorization to help end the childhood obesity crisis
in America? Because it is a crisis. And we know that, ultimately, it is
costing an awful lot in health dollars.
Any one of you that would like to address that?
Ellie?
Ms. Krieger. Yes, thank you.
I think one key thing is education, as you say. And there really is
no formal nutrition education right now that is in any kind of cohesive
form. It is very, sort of, catch as catch can. And I know new
legislation is coming out, is being contemplated or--I am not sure
exactly what stage it is at, but mandating the nutrition education,
that a certain number of hours be implemented.
And there are many, many nutrition programs out there that have
been formed at an academic level, education curricula that weave in
science education. Because learning about cooking, learning about
nutrition, learning about food is learning about science, it is
learning about math. So it is not like we even have to tack this on as
an extra, ``Okay, we need 50 hours of this also,'' for the teachers to
implement. But there are many available curricula that already weave it
into science education, to math education. And so it can really be
woven in in that way and taken advantage of.
And then we really need the people who are going to do this. How do
we implement the education? Do we just tell teachers now, ``Okay, teach
this also''? So, I would really love to see nutrition professionals
being used more in schools, in school settings. Maybe not one per
school or making a big commitment there on that level, but at least
district-wide or something like that, that can help train teachers to
do these curricula, organize cooking classes, help train the food
service personnel, someone who knows how to do these things that can
bring it all together to make, what I said in the beginning, is a whole
healthy environment for our students.
We can't just change the lunch but then give them a snack that is
completely inappropriate, which is happening at my daughter's school
today. It is driving me crazy. So it is in this sense a whole, holistic
approach, a whole school approach.
The Chairman. Right. But, Ellie, do we implement it at the
elementary level, the intermediate or the secondary level?
Ms. Krieger. As soon as possible.
The Chairman. I mean, because there are changes and transfers.
There are kids that come from one place or another. And so, they are
missing out on the nutrition. So you may have a program that is
structured--and earlier it was said that we should have national
nutritional standards that should be applied. And then how do we apply
those? And what kind of national nutritional standards do we need to
develop? And how do we incorporate those into the educational system in
developing master plans to allow the teaching, whether it is at the
elementary level or even pre-school level and then on into the
elementary and then into the intermediate and then secondary level?
Ms. Krieger. I think it is very clear that habits form early. The
research is very strong in this area. I don't have the exact numbers at
my fingertips, but what you eat when you are 4 years old is what you
are probably going to be eating when you are an adult. And what you eat
when you are 8 years old, it just increases the probability of what you
are going to eat later in life.
So the sooner we can expose children to different foods, to the
glory of food, without even giving them early-age, obviously, facts and
figures, just getting them tasting, getting them involved, getting them
to be exposed, that is going to make a tremendous difference. And then
later, obviously, incorporating it into other kind of curricula.
Ms. Escarra. May I add one more thing?
The Chairman. Sure.
Ms. Escarra. And that is, I think it is three parts. I think it is
education. I think it is better access to good, healthy food. I think
written into the bill has got to be a part around physical activity.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Go ahead.
Ms. Endicott. Yes, I am sorry. I might add that the school lunch
reimbursement rate, no matter what we want to do, we have to be able to
have the funding to purchase the food. We all can agree that fresh food
is more expensive to purchase right now. So immediately we need to look
at the school reimbursement rate. I know in our Farm to School program,
we have to have it subsidized.
And then also, just to refer back to the earlier question that you
asked about the seniors having access, in Kansas City we don't have the
great opportunity to have supermarkets in our food desert urban areas.
So what we are doing in the intermediary part is partnering with
churches. Because you have the food supply chain, and that chain has a
cost, from the farm all the way to the consumer. And the only way to
make that food affordable is to take some dollars out somewhere. And so
what we are basically doing is taking the food from the farm into the
churches and then allowing them to disperse it with their WIC and EBT
cards, their SNAP programs.
So we are trying to have a more direct supply, and that way we can
kind of cut the distribution costs and the retail markup. And that
would be kind of an intermediary until we get the supermarkets into the
urban core.
The Chairman. Okay. Thank you.
Would anybody else like to respond?
Mr. Wattermann. If I can make one quick comment, I wanted to follow
up on something that Ellie said earlier on, describing her elementary
school's kitchen and how inadequate it was. And this is just an example
of something that actually worked. And it goes back to the University
of Nebraska, Lincoln, dining services. They had the will to want to
prepare good, fresh food for their students, the college students. But
literally, as she described, I mean, theirs wasn't that small, but they
had no more equipment nor know-how of how to take food from scratch and
make it into something good.
Nebraska had a small grant program that worked. It actually enabled
them to buy the equipment. They identified it, they bought it. And now
they have the equipment to be able to take food from the farm and turn
it into food that they can feed to the students. So it works. And that
is a concrete example I wanted to share.
The Chairman. Thank you.
I know that my time has expired. So I am going to call on Mr.
Fortenberry, the Ranking Member.
Mr. Fortenberry. Well, again, thank you all for appearing.
Just two quick questions.
Mr. Wattermann, Mrs. Lummis from Wyoming had to leave, but she had
a question for you. I told her that I thought it was doubtful, but she
asked if the Nebraska Food Cooperative was able to accept SNAP
benefits.
Mr. Wattermann. Not at this time. We have talked on the seniors
being able to buy at farmers' markets with our representative in
Lincoln, and I guess we are not eligible because we are kind of
nebulous. We are not a physical farmers' market. We are kind of an
Internet farmers' market. So I guess there is something we run afoul of
there. And, honestly, we are open and willing to do that but don't know
where to go.
Mr. Fortenberry. Well, okay. That is a good answer, actually. It is
one of the barriers that are out there.
And, quickly, let me turn again to Ms. Endicott. Regarding the Farm
to School program, Representative Kagen, who is not here, but from
Wisconsin, and myself offered an amendment to the last farm bill, and
it is in the farm bill, that allows for an institutional buying
preference for local foods. It is my understanding regulations are
still being written around that, but, nonetheless, that should be an
assistance to the earlier comments that you made.
Ms. Endicott. Yes.
Mr. Fortenberry. But can you provide us with some more details on
how you got started in that regard?
Ms. Endicott. My husband and I sold our landscaping business in
Dallas, Texas, and we moved to Kansas City to take over the family
farms. And we started selling food to our local supermarket. And over
the past----
Mr. Fortenberry. Specifically the school program.
Ms. Endicott. Oh, specifically the school part. I am sorry.
The school part was--basically, we had a program called Bistro Kids
that was a chef selling and preparing food to private schools. And we
were the food provider for that program, specifically into upscale
private schools. And then we had the idea--we had been working with the
Kellogg Foundation, and I said, well, what we need to do is we need to
take this program and we need to bring it into Title I schools.
And so, with their assistance of a planning grant, we were able to
go into the Head Start schools and actually replicate the same,
identical program. We were not able to afford to do it the entire week,
so we had what we called Fine Dining Fridays, which included more than
just the food. It was all about the tablecloths and local flowers.
And then the Kansas University Medical Center came along and they
said, ``Oh, we see what you are doing. We would like to study this.''
And so they probably have one of the first studies out that has just
been completed on behavioral outcomes from this type of work.
That is pretty much how we got started. And now we are hoping to go
into the second year and expand the program.
Mr. Fortenberry. How did the children react?
Ms. Endicott. It was very, very good. We had a little bit of a
problem with outreach to the parents. And the idea is to carry this
program home. So what we ended up doing--and, again, the supermarket
came to our rescue and helped us provide the product that--for example,
spaghetti squash. So what we would do is not only serve spaghetti
squash but we had an educator in the classroom that would talk about
spaghetti squash. A farmer would come and talk about the squash. And
then we would actually--and probably the most beneficial part of this
is we were actually able to send squash and a recipe home.
For example, chestnuts, roasting chestnuts in the winter. We were
actually able to send the product that--one of the key products, local
products, we were actually able to send it home.
Corn on the cob--I thought everyone understood corn on the cob. I
mean, I didn't know that people did not eat corn on the cob during
July. And so we had a process of taking the corn, and bagging 12 ears
of corn up, and sending it home with the kids with instructions on how
to do it. And the kids got to shuck the corn.
So it was very obvious that it has to be two-part: educating the
kids, but then more, also equally important, is actually providing food
for the kids to take home so they could have that home component. That
seemed to be very successful.
Mr. Fortenberry. Well, that is one of my favorite times of the
year, and my family's as well, when we get that locally grown sweet
corn coming in.
Ms. Endicott. Some of the kids had never had corn on the cob. It
had always come out of a can.
Mr. Fortenberry. That is very interesting.
Well, we have gone way over time, so I am going to stop my
questions and commentary there. But, again, thank you all for your
passion in this regard and your contribution to public service by
appearing here today, but also in terms of what you are doing back home
to implement the broader ideas here that we want to see our country
embrace.
So thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Thank you very much, Mr. Ranking Member.
I am going to take the privilege and ask one more question. And
this is to Rocco.
You know, the First Lady talked openly about the small changes that
she made in the way her family ate to achieve some long-term results.
We all know that many changes are difficult and it requires individual
commitment.
On that point, the Federal Government may not be effective in
trying to promote personal change. As a food expert, what is your sense
of what it is going to take, outside the government program, to promote
change on individual levels, as far as healthy eating is concerned?
And, Ellie, you may try to answer that, too, as well.
Mr. DiSpirito. I think we are talking about the same thing. It is
grassroots, it is community, it is volunteerism, it is everyone who
cares, everyone on this panel asking their friends, family, neighbors
to spread the word.
I think you will find that children are especially eager to learn
from people they perceive to be experts. I know if you are on
television and you are cooking, they are very eager to learn from you,
and you can make a big impact. I think the government could tap into
the group of chefs in the media and form a coalition, and we would be
happy to travel from school to school and implement a program where we
would introduce kids to great nutrition and teach them what a vegetable
looks like and what a potato looks like, and their parents as well.
I applaud that second part of your effort because getting it back
to the home is really important. Because we have definitely skipped a
generation when it comes to understanding cooking, ingredients. And a
lot of parents today can't teach their kids what we would hope to start
at home.
Earlier we were talking about when it should start. It should start
at home in infancy. I don't think that a lot of--I think that capacity
is missing with a lot of American homes right now.
So, this kind of thing is really where it needs to start. But we
could always use a little help from you guys.
The Chairman. Ellie, do you want to say anything else to that or
not?
Ms. Krieger. I think the idea of the small changes makes it very
accessible to people. People perceive this idea that they have to
change their diet as this, like, massive--I mean, we have a big job to
do in terms of the obesity epidemic as a whole. But on a personal
level, it does not have to be this massive cloud of change that has to
topple your life and you have to do a 180 turn now. Really, small
changes make a huge difference.
So if people suddenly introduce fresh fruit into their lives or one
new fresh vegetable into their lives and then pull back on some
processed foods, that can make a difference. And I think that winds up
being kind of contagious and snowballing into this ``I can do this''
perception and attitude. And then that leads to the next change.
And so I think that using this idea of, ``if you do these few
things, you can make a difference in your life,'' as opposed to making
people think that they have to change everything all at once.
The Chairman. Okay. Good.
You know, I just thought of an idea that we maybe will look at,
too, as well as a national program through the media network, is having
it available to where--I know that it is difficult for each of our
education institutions to hire nutritionists and other individuals, but
having a program that can be tied in directly through educational
programs through all of our schools during a certain period of time,
where we actually will have someone demonstrating and talking about
healthy foods, and tying it in directly. That is a thought or an idea.
With that, I know that we can elaborate and talk a lot more on this
particular subject. But, again, I want to thank the Ranking Member for
his interest in this, because, as I stated before, we have had other
hearings on this topic, but we also wanted to approach it from the view
of health and also from the cost factors. It is pay now or pay later.
And we will pay later for the things that we neglect to do now, things
that would save our taxpayers X amount of dollars. I know that the
Ranking Member has a very great interest in this now, as well.
And, with that, before I adjourn, I want to thank each one of our
witnesses for participating in this hearing today and for your
thoughtful testimony. I appreciate your knowledge, your ideas, your
experience--and I hope that Congress will find the best policy
solutions possible to improve access to, and education about, healthy
food.
We all know the seriousness of the obesity crisis our nation is
facing, and we must continue to be innovative and learn as we move
forward to address these important public issues.
Again, I want to thank all of you. And I want to thank the Members
who took the time to be here, as well.
And, with that, before we adjourn, under the rules of the
Committee, the record of today's hearing will remain open for 10
calendar days to receive additional materials and supplementary written
responses from witnesses and any questions posed by Members.
This hearing of the Subcommittee on Department Operations,
Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry is adjourned.
Again, thank you very much.
[Whereupon, at 12:42 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
[Material submitted for inclusion in the record follows:]
Report Submitted by Vicki B. Escarra, President and CEO, Feeding
America
Monthly Commodities Report--March 2010
Prepared for Feeding America
By Dr. Kenneth C. Clayton
Introduction
This monthly report provides Feeding America and its affiliated
organizations with information regarding the current and forthcoming
market climate for agricultural commodities commonly considered for
USDA ``bonus'' purchases and information concerning ``bonus'' purchases
by USDA.
Market Outlook for ``Bonus'' Commodities
Summary: Total red meat and poultry production is expected to
decline marginally in 2010. At the end of February 2010, total frozen
red meat and poultry inventories were up two percent from January 2010,
but, more importantly, down 13 percent from a year earlier.
Red meat production, including beef and pork, is expected to
continue to decline in 2010. Wholesale red meat prices are forecast to
move higher in 2010. Frozen beef supplies at the end of February were
more than 7.5 percent lower than a year earlier, marking the lowest
monthly inventory since July 2005. Pork inventories in February
remained 17 percent below a year ago.
Poultry production, including chicken and turkey, is expected to
increase slightly in 2010. Wholesale prices are forecast to increase by
2-4 percent. Frozen chicken stocks in February were 3.5 percent lower
than at the same time last year. Frozen turkey supplies were 25 percent
below year earlier levels. Table egg production is forecast to grow
only modestly in 2010, with wholesale prices increasing by 7-13
percent.
Milk and dairy product production are expected to continue their
decline in 2010. Dairy prices at the farm level are forecast to
increase, with dairy product prices following a similar upward trend.
Fresh and processed supplies of late summer and fall fruit,
including apples, pears, peaches, and tart cherries, remain relatively
plentiful. Although Florida oranges suffered weather-related production
losses, orange juice supplies are expected to decline less
significantly given existing inventories, imports, and dampened demand.
Fresh navel and Valencia orange production in California is up
substantially. Weather problems in Florida, Texas, and, to a lesser
extent, California have been disrupting winter fresh vegetable
production, particularly tomatoes, snap beans, green beans, lettuce,
sweet corn, and bell peppers, although production is gradually
resuming.
Meat Products: Overall, red meat production (beef and pork)
declined by nearly two percent in 2009, and is expected to come down by
almost that same amount in 2010. As a further gauge of red meat market
supplies, cold storage inventories on February 28, 2010, were down
slightly from the previous month and over 13 percent below the previous
year.
U.S. beef production fell over two percent in 2009 and is forecast
to drop by more than one percent in 2010. Frozen beef inventory at the
end of February 2010 was down six percent from late January, and down
eight percent from the same time a year earlier. Domestic demand for
beef continues to be affected by the pace of economic recovery,
particularly as it relates to restaurant sales, and may impact higher
quality cuts of meat differentially. Beef export demand is expected to
improve in 2010. With a tightening beef supply and expectations of
increased demand, cattle prices that declined by over ten percent in
2009 are expected to rebound by over eight percent in 2010.
Pork production declined by 1.5 percent in 2009 and is expected to
fall by 2.5 percent in 2010. Pork production in February 2010 was down
three percent from both the preceding month and the same period a year
earlier. Frozen pork supplies as of February 28, 2010, were five
percent higher than a month earlier, but 17 percent lower than at the
same time last year. Shorter-term winter weather disruptions in
transportation coupled with longer-term reductions in the hog herd,
reduced pork inventories, and positive domestic and export market
demand prospects have resulted in higher hog prices that will likely
carry well into 2010.
Poultry Products: Poultry meat production (broiler chicken and
turkey) fell by nearly five percent in 2009, and is forecast to
increase by only less than one percent in 2010.
Broiler chicken meat production is expected to increase by just
over one percent during 2010, with small gains in the first three
quarters of the year and a somewhat larger production increase in the
fourth quarter. Prices are not expected to increase during the first
half of the year as reduced exports are likely to push more poultry
products onto the U.S. domestic market. With growth in production,
albeit limited, and falling exports, inventories are anticipated to be
higher throughout 2010, but still lower than in 2008. At the end of
February 2010, cold storage inventories of chicken products were down
one percent from the preceding month and nearly four percent from a
year earlier. Limited production increases, modest inventories, and
slowly increasing domestic demand based on improving economic
conditions will cause wholesale prices to gradually rise in the latter
half of 2010, up by nearly six percent over the course of the year.
Turkey meat production in 2009 was down nearly ten percent from
2008, and is expected to decline another four percent in 2010. Cold
storage holdings of turkey meat were up a seasonal 14 percent at the
end of February 2010 compared to the previous month, but down a
substantial 25 percent compared to a year earlier. Wholesale prices for
turkey meat in 2009 were down nine percent from 2008, but are expected
to be some 2-7 percent higher in 2010.
Table egg production was slightly higher in 2009, and is expected
to increase modestly again in 2010. Production is forecast to be above
2009 levels in the first three-quarters of the year, and about the same
in the fourth quarter. Wholesale table egg prices in 2009 were nearly
20 percent lower than a year earlier, but are expected to increase by
7-13 percent in 2010, being highest in the first half of the year.
Dairy Products: The reduction in the size of the U.S. dairy herd,
begun last year, is expected to continue in 2010. However, favorable
feed costs will support a continuing effort to increase output per cow
in 2010, resulting in a small increase in production. Coupled with an
anticipated increase in domestic and export demand for dairy products,
dairy product stock levels are likely to be lower by year's end.
Federal Government stocks of butter are expected to decline
significantly during 2010, cheese stocks will continue small, and only
limited stocks of nonfat dry milk will be accumulated.
Cheese and butter prices in 2010 are expected to strengthen by some
16 to 24 percent as milk production continues to fall, cheese and
butter production declines, cheese and butter inventory levels are
drawn down, and economic recovery proceeds. Cold storage stocks of
cheese were ten percent higher on February 28, 2010, than they were a
year earlier; butter stocks were down three percent.
Fruit: Monthly fruit prices to growers in February 2010 compared to
a year earlier were generally higher. Grower prices for all grapefruit
were up 78 percent, fresh grapefruit up 42 percent, all oranges up 17
percent, fresh apples up nearly 25 percent, and fresh strawberries up
21 percent. Notable exceptions included fresh oranges (i.e., California
and Texas) that were down almost nine most percent and fresh pears down
over 17 percent.
U.S. monthly retail prices were higher in February 2010 than for
the same period in the previous year for grapefruit (nearly 11 percent)
and strawberries (over ten percent). Comparative prices for the same
timeframe were lower for navel oranges (nearly five percent) and red
delicious apples (over three percent).
The overall U.S. citrus crop for 2009/10 is expected to be 11
percent lower than last season, making it the smallest crop in the last
3 years and the second smallest crop in 21 years. Adverse weather and
declining acreage in Florida are principally responsible, causing
reduced oranges for juice (down 19 percent from last year and 23
percent from 2 years ago) and reduced grapefruit production. Orange
juice production (95 percent of Florida orange crop) is expected to be
down 22 percent from a year ago, and the lowest production in 10 years.
However, the combination of large juice stocks plus increased imports
will mean the total orange juice supply will be down a smaller 13
percent from last year, only two percent less than 2 years ago, and
actually up eight percent from 3 years ago. Orange (Valencia and navel)
production is expected to be higher in California (up 16 percent) and
Texas, meaning a greater supply of fresh oranges. U.S. production of
tangerines and mandarins is forecast to be higher in California and
Florida.
Marketing of the 2009 U.S. apple crop--which was 2.5 percent larger
than the 2008 crop--has progressed significantly. As of February 28,
2010, fresh apple stocks were down 18 percent from a month earlier and
eight percent below levels at the same time in 2009. Of particular note
are the over \4/5\ of apple stocks held in longer-term controlled
atmosphere storage (rather than regular storage) that are ten percent
below similar stock holdings a year ago. Of the three states with the
largest quantities of apples in storage, Michigan's stocks are up by 88
percent compared to February 2009, New York is up by seven percent, and
Washington is down by 16 percent.
The U.S. pear crop in 2009 was up by well over seven percent from
2008, the third largest crop produced since 2001. Pears being held in
cold storage on February 28, 2010, were down 30 percent from the
previous month indicating market movement; however, cold storage
supplies were still 18 percent higher than a year earlier.
U.S. peach production was almost five percent greater in 2009 than
it was in the previous season.
Overall, frozen fruit stocks at the end of February 2010 were eight
percent larger than a year earlier, although down eight percent from
the previous month. Inventories of frozen tart cherries, red
raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries (bulk and juice) were more
than ten percent higher than levels a year earlier.
Vegetables: U.S. production of the 21 major fresh market vegetables
has been trending downward--by two percent in 2008, 1.6 percent in
2009, and forecast to fall another 0.5 percent in 2010. The three
largest fresh market crops, in terms of production, are onions, head
lettuce, and tomatoes, combining to account for 42 percent of total
production. Production of eight selected processing vegetables in 2009
was up 11 percent from the preceding year. The three largest processing
crops in terms of production are tomatoes, sweet corn, and snap beans,
accounting for 93 percent of the eight processing vegetables.
Overall frozen vegetable inventory was eight percent higher on
February 28, 2010, than a year earlier. Frozen stocks of baby lima
beans, cauliflower, cut corn, and mixed peas and carrots were more than
20 percent above prior year levels. Asparagus, broccoli spears, green
peas, and spinach were up ten percent or more.
Potatoes: Although potato production in 2009/10 was down by over
two percent, potatoes in storage on March 1, 2010, were up 11 percent
from a year earlier, and four percent higher than March 1, 2008. March
1 storage of potatoes accounted for 44 percent of fall 2009 production,
three percentage points above the previous year's share of production
being held in storage at that same date. Potato use, including shrink
and loss, was two percent below March 1, 2009, and down nine percent
from 2008. Processing use to date for the 2009/10 season is down seven
percent from last year, and down 14 percent from 2 years ago.
Peanuts: Peanut production in 2009 was 30 percent lower than in
2008, more on par with production in 2007. February 2010 peanut stocks
(farm level, in-shell, and shelled) were seven percent lower than the
previous year. Reflecting the weakened U.S. economy, demand for peanut
butter has been strong and production of peanut butter during August
2009-February 2010 was seven percent higher than for the same period a
year earlier. USDA distribution of peanut butter through its child
nutrition and other food assistance programs was up by 17 percent for
August 2009-February 2010 compared to the same period in 2008-2009.
Status of USDA ``Bonus'' Purchases and Requests
Purchases are proceeding on the $101.7 million in bonus buys
previously announced in Fiscal Year 2010, including $40 million for
pork products and $61.7 million for fruit and vegetable products
(including tart cherries, dried plums, apple products, fresh potatoes,
peaches and mixed fruit, frozen blueberries, and fresh and canned
pears).
Industry requests for purchases of potatoes, clingstone peaches,
dates, figs, and cranberry products are reportedly under active
consideration. There seems to be continued reticence at USDA to make
bonus purchases of animal protein products that could be distributed to
schools and/or household recipients.
A significant increase in purchase activity is anticipated by the
Agricultural Marketing Service over the next month or 2. This will
primarily involve purchases for the schools to meet the statutory
requirement that 12 percent of Federal support be provided in the form
of commodities.
Status of Section 32 Funds
With regard to the availability and use of Section 32 funds, there
are three principal points of interest: (1) USDA's decisions regarding
use of already appropriated FY 2010 funds; (2) the President's proposed
FY 2011 budget for USDA; and (3) Senator Blanche Lincoln's recently
proposed legislation ``Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010'' to
reauthorize child nutrition programs.
Use of FY 2010 Appropriation--There are three issues to be noted
with respect to FY 2010 Section 32 funds for bonus commodity purchases:
First, funds otherwise unspent for their authorized purposes
within the Section 32 budget account must be identified and
transferred in a timely manner if bonus purchases are to be
maximized.
Based on an internal reprogramming of the FY 2010
authorization, USDA already has been able to supplement
the original $199 million authorized for bonus
purchases with an additional $58.5 million. These
latter funds were transferred from an authorization
intended to ensure USDA is compliant with a 2008 Farm
Bill mandate that requires a minimum of $399 million of
fruit and vegetables be purchased in FY 2010 using
Section 32 funds.
It seems likely that additional Section 32 funds could
be diverted to bonus purchases from those originally
intended to ensure the minimum purchase requirement for
specialty crops is met. In particular, the likely
purchase of additional commodities to meet the 12%
requirement for the school lunch program in combination
with school lunch entitlement and otherwise intended
bonus purchases could allow the $399 million fruit and
vegetables purchase requirement to be met with only a
limited draw on the $199 million authorized to ensure
this 2008 Farm Bill spending requirement for fruit and
vegetables is met. The likely larger share of these
funds could then be shifted to bonus purchases for
distribution to families as well as schools.
Second, USDA has authorized to date, in FY 2010, bonus
purchases of $101.7 million--$61.7 million of fruit and
vegetable bonus purchases and $40.0 million of pork product
purchases. There currently remain $155.8 million (or, possibly
$155.8 + 86.1 = $241.9 million) for bonus purchases that could
be directed to schools or households. It is imperative that
remaining Section 32 bonus purchases be identified and made in
a timely manner.
Third, with further regard to the funds available for Section
32 bonus purchases, every effort should be made to maximize the
flow of bonus commodities to household feeding programs.
President's Proposed Budget for FY 2011--There are several
observations that should be noted with respect to the President's
proposed FY 2011 budget:
First, reflecting a slowly recovering global economy, a $5
billion reduction in U.S. customs receipts (tariffs or taxes
collected on imports) is anticipated in 2010, translating into
a $1.5 billion reduction in the availability of Section 32
funds in FY 2011.
Second, the President's FY 2011 budget proposal includes a $50
million rescission of the funds that would otherwise be
available under the permanent Section 32 appropriation
authority.
Third, a reduced $181 million bonus purchase spending level is
proposed, down nine percent from FY 2010's initial
authorization of $199 million, well below the likely actual
bonus purchase level in FY 2010, and over 40 percent less than
actual bonus purchases in FY 2009.
Fourth, $120 million are authorized in FY 2011--compared to
$176 million in FY 2010--to ensure meeting the National School
Lunch Program (NSLP) requirement that 12 percent of Federal
support be in the form of commodities. If this nearly \1/3\
reduction ultimately proves to be an underestimate, the only
source for meeting the shortfall will be the already reduced
$181 million in bonus funds proposed for FY 2011.
Child Nutrition Program Reauthorization--Two possible concerns
arise with the reauthorization of child nutrition programs that seems
likely to occur over the next several months:
First, the President's proposed budget for FY 2011 includes $10
billion over 10 years to strengthen child nutrition and WIC
programming. Although this budget proposal leaves Section 32
funding largely intact, albeit with a reduced level of support
for bonus purchases, at least some uncertainty exists as to how
the Congress will deal with child nutrition and the necessary
funding for programs in this area.
Second, Sen. Lincoln's proposed legislation for child nutrition
program reauthorization, ``Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of
2010,'' includes a smaller $4.5 billion spending increase than
the President contemplates, and identifies offsets that the
Congressional Budget Office concludes will make the proposal
budget neutral. Among the budget offsets is the apparent
elimination of the current requirement that 12 percent of the
Federal support to the National School Lunch Program must be in
the form of commodities. If this legislation is adopted,
including elimination of the 12 percent requirement, it would
reduce the funds available for Section 32 commodity purchases
by $120 million (President's FY 2011 Budget). Although funds
would remain available in the Section 32 account to ensure that
the farm bill minimums for specialty crop purchases are met,
and that those commodities could flow to both schools and
household recipients, use of this authority would restrict
purchases to fruit and vegetables, precluding possible bonus
purchases of meat and poultry protein products.
Opportunities for Collaboration
As noted in previous monthly reports, Feeding America might want to
consider working with allied organizations to promote shorter-term and
longer-term support for maximum availability of Section 32 funds for
bonus commodity purchases.
In the shorter-term, Feeding America might consider, possibly with
allied organizations, meeting with USDA officials to reinforce the need
for even greater focus on the food product requirements of food banks
and others serving families and households. As substantiated in recent
studies and evidenced by the lingering high rates of under- and
unemployment, there remains a great need for food assistance. Within
the context of FY 2010 and focusing on the use of Section 32 funding to
acquire and distribute food commodities:
Section 32 bonus purchases should be made in a timely and
expedited manner whenever market circumstances justify such
purchases--missed purchase opportunities mean greater
malnourishment, at a time when unemployment persists as our
economy recovers from a deep and serious recession.
When making Section 32 bonus purchases, priority must be
given to the distribution of food commodities to food banks and
others that serve families and households--the needs are great.
To the extent that FY 2010 Section 32 funds are not fully
required for their initially intended purposes, expedited
reprogramming should be permitted to maximize bonus purchases
of surplus food products.
For the longer-term, efforts should be undertaken with allied
organizations to ensure that Congressional and Executive Branch
officials are aware of the implications of the Section 32 re-
programmings and rescissions that have been made and continue to be
proposed in the appropriations process. Such actions may have been
undertaken for other good purposes, but they come at a very real cost
to those who depend on donations of federally-procured food products.
An opportunity will exist in the FY 2011 appropriations process to
reconsider the manner in which Section 32 funding is handled and
allocated.
Report Submitted by Jeffrey N. Brown, Founder, President, and CEO,
Brown's Super Stores, Inc.
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED]