[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 38 (Monday, September 22, 1997)]
[Pages 1327-1328]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7019--National Week of Food Recovery, 1997

September 12, 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.
    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.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 9:04 a.m., September 16, 
1997]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on 
September 17. This item was not received in time for publication in the 
appropriate issue.

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