[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 176 (Wednesday, November 14, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14422-S14423]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HUNGER AND NUTRITION

  Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, in America--the land of prosperity and 
plenty, some people have the misconception that hunger plagues only 
faraway, undeveloped nations. The reality is that hunger is a silent 
enemy lurking within 1 in 10 U.S. households.
  In my home State of North Carolina alone, nearly 1 million of our 8.8 
million residents are struggling with food insecurity issues. In recent 
years, once-thriving North Carolina towns have been economically 
crippled by the shutting of textile mills and furniture factories. 
People have lost their jobs and sometimes their ability to put food on 
the table.
  I know this scenario is not unique to North Carolina, as many 
American manufacturing jobs have moved overseas. While many folks are 
finding new employment, these days a steady income does not necessarily 
provide for three square meals a day. Hunger and food insecurity are 
far too prevalent, but I think Washington Post columnist David Broder 
hit the nail on the head when he wrote:

       America has some problems that defy solution. This one does 
     not. It just needs caring people and a caring government, 
     working together.

  I certainly agree. The battle to end hunger in our country is a 
campaign that cannot be won in months or even a few years, but it is a 
victory within reach.
  To this end, I strongly support what the nutrition title of the farm 
bill strives to accomplish. I commend my colleagues on the Senate 
Agriculture Committee for putting together a package that helps address 
the hunger and nutrition needs of Americans of all ages. For example, 
with regard to the Food Stamp Program, this bill seeks to responsibly 
address concerns of fraud, waste, and abuse in the system and help 
ensure that it serves those who truly need assistance.
  I am also pleased that the nutrition title expands the Fresh Fruit 
and Vegetable Program to all 50 States. This program encourages healthy 
eating habits in schoolchildren and helps combat childhood obesity. 
According to a recent Duke University report, in the last 25 years, the 
rate of obesity has doubled for children ages 6 to 11, and has tripled 
for teens.
  Today, about 10 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds and 15 percent of 6- to 
19-year-olds are overweight. In North Carolina, where childhood obesity 
rates have been higher than national averages, I am very proud that 
nearly 1.4 million children are enrolled this school year in the Fresh 
Fruit and Vegetable Program. This certainly is a positive way to help 
combat the childhood obesity problem.
  Furthermore, I am pleased this bill will allow schools participating 
in the School Lunch Program to use geographic preference when 
purchasing fruits and vegetables. This is especially good news in North 
Carolina where our farmers produce a wide variety of nutritious fruits 
and vegetables.
  I also welcome a provision in the nutrition title that makes 
permanent the exclusion of combat zone pay from eligibility 
determinations in the Food and Nutrition Program. More than 157,700 
servicemembers from North Carolina have deployed to Iraq and 
Afghanistan, and their families, who are sacrificing greatly, should 
not become ineligible because the head of household receives extra 
income for serving in harm's way.
  Additionally, I am pleased that the nutrition title expands the use 
of electronic benefit transfer at farmers' markets. As in other States, 
in North Carolina's rural areas the poverty rate tends to be higher, 
and there is limited access to grocery stores that participate in the 
Food and Nutrition Program. Our State prides itself on having some of 
the finest farmers' markets around, and allowing the use of EBT will 
provide needier individuals access to these healthy, homegrown foods.
  Likewise, this bill also increases funding for the Senior Farmers' 
Market Nutrition Program, which helps low-income seniors, and it 
continues and extends the Commodity Supplemental Food Program to more 
low-income individuals.
  While I am encouraged by these hunger and nutrition components, there 
is still more we can and should accomplish in this farm bill to help 
those in need.
  One area where I have focused my efforts is gleaning, where excess 
crops that would otherwise be thrown out are taken from farms, 
packinghouses, and warehouses, and distributed to the needy.
  It is staggering--really staggering--that each year in this country 
96 billion pounds of good, nutritious food, including that at the farm 
and retail level, is left over or thrown away. Gleaning helps eliminate 
this waste. It helps the farmer because he does not have to haul off or 
plow under crops that do not meet exact specifications of grocery 
chains. And it certainly helps the hungry by giving them nutritious, 
fresh foods.
  Last month, in Harnett County, NC, I gleaned sweet potatoes with 
volunteers from the hunger relief organization the Society of St. 
Andrew. One of the single largest concerns for groups such as this 
wonderful organization is transportation--how to actually get food from 
the farm, for example, to those in need. According to the Society of 
St. Andrew, the increase in fuel costs has made food transport 
particularly challenging. They say today it costs 30 percent more to 
hire a truck to move food than it did 2 years ago.
  To help address this problem, I am putting forward my bill, the 
Hunger Relief Trucking Tax Credit, as an amendment to this legislation. 
My measure would change the Tax Code to give transportation companies 
tax incentives for volunteering trucks to transfer gleaned food. 
Specifically, my bill would create a 25-cent tax credit for each mile 
that food is transported for hunger relief efforts by a donated truck 
and driver. This bill would provide a little extra encouragement for 
trucking companies to donate space in their vehicles to help more food 
reach more hungry people.
  Additionally, I am proud to join my colleague Senator Lautenberg as a 
cosponsor of an amendment that helps fight hunger in our communities by 
combining food rescue with job training, thus teaching unemployed and 
homeless adults the skills needed to work in the food service industry.
  The FEED Program, which stands for Food Employment Empowerment and 
Development, will support community kitchens around the country with 
much needed resources to help collect rescued food and provide meals to 
the hungry. Successful FEED-type programs already exist. For example, 
in Charlotte, NC, the Community Culinary School recruits students from 
social service agencies, homeless shelters, halfway houses, and work 
release programs. And just around the corner from the U.S. Capitol, 
students are hard at work in the DC Central Kitchen's culinary job 
training class. This is a model program, which began in 1990, and it is 
always, to me, a great privilege to visit the kitchen and meet with the 
individuals who have faced adversity but are now on track for a career 
in the food service industry.

[[Page S14423]]

  While I do have a number of concerns about the farm bill and its 
impact on North Carolina agriculture, I welcome this bill's hunger and 
nutrition focus. Particularly with Thanksgiving just 1 week away, let 
us remember our 35 million fellow Americans who are struggling to have 
enough to eat. With the addition of the Hunger Relief Trucking Tax 
Credit and the FEED Program provision, this farm bill can go even 
further to responsibly lend a helping hand to those in need.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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