[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 22 (Monday, June 5, 2000)]
[Pages 1242-1243]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

May 27, 2000

    Good morning. Memorial Day weekend is a special time to honor those 
who have fought for our freedom but also to gather with our family and 
friends at picnics and backyard barbecues. Where we take pride in 
serving up plenty of good food, we should also take pains that the food 
we serve is good for us. Today I want to talk about new steps we're 
taking to empower Americans with the latest and best information on food 
and nutrition.
    For 20 years now, the Federal Government has been setting guidelines 
for good nutrition based on the best scientific evidence. And for over 6 
years, the Government has required nutrition labeling on most foods. 
With better information, Americans are making better choices. We're 
eating less fat as a percentage of our diet, more fruits, vegetables, 
and whole grains, and average blood cholesterol levels are going down.

[[Page 1243]]

    Yet despite this progress, the vast majority of Americans still 
don't have healthy diets. And some changes in our lifestyles are making 
matters worse. We're eating more fast food because of our hectic 
schedules, and we're less physically active because of our growing 
reliance on modern conveniences, from cars to computers to remote 
controls. As a result, more and more Americans are overweight or obese, 
including 1 in 10 children. This is an alarming trend, because obesity 
and bad eating habits contribute to four of the leading causes of death: 
heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes.
    To address these challenges, experts from around our Nation will 
meet next week in Washington for a summit on nutrition sponsored by the 
Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. It will be the 
first national nutrition summit in 31 years. To kick off the summit, 
today I am releasing the Federal Government's new Dietary Guidelines 
2000. They're updated every 5 years. These guidelines serve as the gold 
standard of nutritional information. They determine, among other things, 
the nutritional content of the lunches served to 26 million of our 
children every day in school.
    These new guidelines strengthen the message that doctors and 
scientists have been telling us for some time now: We should choose more 
whole-grain foods and a variety of fruits and vegetables every day, and 
we should moderate the saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, salt, and 
alcohol in our diets.
    There are two new guidelines this year as well. One emphasizes the 
importance of handling and storing food safely. The other makes clear 
the enormous benefits of building physical activity into our daily 
lives. Just a brisk 30-minute walk five times a week, for instance, can 
cut the chance of developing or dying from heart disease in half.
    I'm also pleased to announce today that this summer the Federal 
Government will propose that packaged meat and poultry sold in stores 
must come with nutrition labels. This is just plain common sense. 
Shoppers value the fact that when they pick up a box of cereal or a 
frozen meal, they can check the nutrition labels and see how many 
calories or grams of saturated fat these foods contain. That's the same 
kind of information that ought to be put on every package of ground 
beef. Currently, fewer than 60 percent of retailers do so, because 
nutrition labeling for meat is voluntary. It's time we made it 
mandatory.
    Providing citizens with accurate information that affects their 
lives is one of Government's most vital responsibilities. But citizens 
have a responsibility to use that information wisely, as well, 
especially when it comes to the food they provide their children and the 
habits they encourage in them. So this weekend, have a good time. Let's 
all eat well and eat right. Let's enjoy the outdoors and get some 
physical activity and be thankful for the bounteous times in which we 
live and the country that makes us so proud.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 4:39 p.m. on May 26 in the Oval Office 
at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on May 27. The transcript 
was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on May 26 but 
was embargoed for release until the broadcast.