[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 48 (Monday, December 2, 1996)]
[Pages 2429-2430]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

November 23, 1996

    Good morning. As you know, I'm traveling across the Pacific visiting 
Australia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Hillary and I and our 
delegation are enjoying the great natural beauty and the warmth and 
hospitality of the people of this diverse region.
    America's involvement and influence here helps to provide the 
stability, to promote the economic progress, to encourage the 
cooperation on many fronts, including preserving our natural 
environment, that benefits all Americans. With partners and friends like 
the nations I'm visiting, we're going to enter the 21st century stronger 
than ever.
    This is a good trip, but I'm looking forward to returning home in 
time for Thanksgiving. More than any other holiday, Thanksgiving reminds 
us of the importance of family and community and the ties that bind us 
together. As we gather with our families this year to give thanks, we 
must never forget the duty we owe to those in our American community who 
are less fortunate than we are.
    The Bible tells us that when we harvest we must not take everything 
for ourselves but remember to leave something for the poor to glean. 
Today, those gleanings are the gifts of food we give to those who need 
them. Across our Nation, in food banks and houses of worship, in 
community groups, thousands of Americans are taking the initiative to 
fight hunger and feed their neighbors. We must all do our part and 
support these efforts because not all the needs are met and we plainly 
can do more.
    For example, we know that too much food goes to waste. In 
restaurants, cafeterias, and grocery stores across our country, 
thousands of pounds of perfectly good, healthy food is thrown out every 
day, enough to feed 49 million people a year. Recovering that surplus 
food can make a real difference in the fight against hunger in America.
    Our administration has tried to help. This past summer, hundreds of 
young people from our national service program, AmeriCorps, joined 
private volunteers to get food to the poor. They worked with farmers in 
the fields, teaching them how to save excess produce. They worked with 
the Atlanta Community Food Bank and the Congressional Hunger Center to 
help recover 174 tons of excess food. All told, this past summer they 
recovered over a thousand tons of food, providing over a million meals. 
And every week the U.S. Department of Agriculture's cafeteria in 
Washington sends another 150 pounds of food to a soup kitchen.
    Last October I signed into law the good Samaritan food donation act. 
This law encourages private businesses, local governments, and ordinary 
citizens to donate food by protecting them from lawsuits. This can make 
a real difference. Second Harvest, a national food bank network, 
estimates that the good Samaritan law will result in approximately 25 
million pounds of food next year.
    Today we're taking two more steps to help fight hunger. First, I'm 
directing every department and agency in our administration to actively 
work to promote food recovery and distribution. From now on, all Federal 
agencies will recover surplus food from their cafeterias, public events, 
and other food-service facilities. And they'll work with Government 
contractors, State and local governments, and private businesses to 
encourage all citizens to do the same.
    The second thing we're doing is to make it easier for private 
citizens to take steps to help feed the poor. Today we're releasing a 
new handbook, ``The Citizen's Guide to Food Recovery.'' It will tell you 
how you can get started, the names of the charities in your area that 
work to recover food, and the lessons we've already learned in 
communities all across America. You can call a 1-800 number; it's 1-800-
GLEAN-IT--that's 1-800-G-L-E-A-N-I-T--to learn more about food

[[Page 2430]]

recovery and to get a copy of the Citizen's Guide.
    Our Nation has always been a land of plenty. But as blessed as we 
are, we must never forget that there are those still struggling to take 
part in America's bounty. Ultimately, all Americans must take 
responsibility to help our fellow citizens in need. So this 
Thanksgiving, as we celebrate with our own loved ones, let us remember 
those who are not so fortunate. By making sure that food does not go to 
waste we can make the spirit of Thanksgiving real for literally millions 
of our people every single day of the year.
    Thanks for listening, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Note: The address was recorded at 7 a.m. on November 22 in Cairns, 
Australia, for domestic broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on November 23.