[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 180 (Wednesday, September 17, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 48929-48930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-24902]



[[Page 48927]]

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Part III





The President





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Proclamation 7019--National Week of Food Recovery, 1997

Proclamation 7020--National Hispanic Heritage Month, 1990

Proclamation 7021--50th Anniversary of the National Security Act of 
1947
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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 180 / Wednesday, September 17, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 48929]]

                Proclamation 7019 of September 12, 1997

                
National Week of Food Recovery, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The American people are blessed with rich natural 
                resources and an agricultural sector that is the most 
                efficient and productive in the world. It is a tragic 
                reality, however, that in this land of plenty, many of 
                our fellow Americans still go hungry each day. This 
                statistic becomes even more heartbreaking when we 
                realize that about 27 percent of the estimated 356 
                billion pounds of food that America produces each year 
                goes to waste at the retail, wholesale, and consumer 
                levels.

                Most of this loss occurs in the commercial food chain, 
                as food travels from farms to wholesale markets, 
                manufacturers, supermarkets, company cafeterias, and 
                restaurants, and much of it is recoverable. Whether it 
                be day-old bread at a bakery or an extra pan of lasagna 
                not served by a restaurant or cafeteria, a significant 
                amount of this food is perfectly edible and wholesome. 
                Throwing away such food is an intolerable loss, because 
                it both denies hungry Americans a vital source of 
                nourishment and wastes precious resources. 
                Municipalities across the country currently spend about 
                $1 billion a year in tax dollars to dispose of excess 
                food.

                There is a growing national movement to recover this 
                food and distribute it to Americans in need. This 
                movement, led by nonprofit groups and energized by new 
                efforts at the Department of Agriculture, is making a 
                noticeable difference in the amount of edible excess 
                food that is finding its way to hungry people rather 
                than ending up in dumpsters.

                Every sector of our society--from individuals to large 
                institutions--can do more to glean and recover excess 
                food. Every person can have an impact. Individuals can 
                donate canned and boxed goods to food drives; they can 
                give their time and money to food recovery 
                organizations; they can even encourage the places where 
                they work--and the businesses they patronize--to get 
                involved in this movement.

                Food recovery efforts will never replace a strong 
                Federal safety net that includes such critical programs 
                as the Food Stamp Program; the Special Supplemental 
                Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children; the 
                National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs; 
                and nutrition education efforts. However, extra food, 
                provided through food recovery, can serve as a vital 
                supplement to the diets of millions of Americans in 
                need.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 
                14 through September 20, 1997, as National Week of Food 
                Recovery, to be held in conjunction with the National 
                Summit on Food Recovery. I call on all Americans to 
                observe this week by actively participating in and 
                supporting efforts to recover food for distribution to 
                hungry Americans.

[[Page 48930]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-second.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-24902
Filed 9-16-97; 9:04 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P