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555 Dirksen Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Ph: 202.224.6342
Fax: 202.224.1100
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Raleigh Office:
310 New Bern Avenue
Suite 122
Raleigh, NC 27601
Ph: 919.856.4630
Toll Free: 866.420.6083
Fax: 919.856.4053
Salisbury Office:
225 North Main Street
Suite 304
Salisbury, NC 28144
Ph: 704.633.5011
Toll Free: 866.420.6084
Fax: 704.633.2937
Western Office:
401 North Main Street
Suite 200
Hendersonville, NC 28792
Ph: 828.698.3747
Fax: 828.698.1267
Eastern Office:
306 South Evans Street
Greenville, NC 27835
Ph: 252.329.1093
Fax: 252.329.1097
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Floor Statements
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REMARKS ON NATIONAL HUNGER AWARENESS DAY
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 listen to Radio Clip
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June 7th, 2005 - Mr. President, for the past two years I have come to the Senate floor on National Hunger Awareness Day to talk about the battle against hunger, both here in America and around the world. In fact Mr. President, I reserved my maiden speech for this topic - - one of my top priorities as a U.S. Senator. I have stated over and over again that the battle against hunger is one that can’t be won in a matter of months or even a few years but it is a victory that we can claim if we continue to make the issue a priority.
As Washington Post columnist David Broder said about hunger, “America has some problems that seem to defy solution. This one does not. It just needs caring people and a caring government, working together.” I could not agree more.
Last year on Hunger Awareness Day, Senators Smith, Durbin, Lincoln, and I launched the Senate Hunger Caucus, with the express purpose of providing a bi-partisan forum for senators and staff to engage each other on national and international hunger and food insecurity issues. By hosting briefings and disseminating information, the caucus has been striving to bring awareness to these issues, while at the same time finding ways to collaborate on legislation. I want to thank 34 of my colleagues for joining the Senate Hunger Caucus and their staffs for their diligent work. In addition, I am excited to see our friends in the House of Representatives start their own Hunger Caucus and I look forward to working with them as both houses of Congress continue to find solutions to eliminating hunger.
It is truly astounding how so many of our fellow citizens go hungry or are living on the
edge of hunger each and every day. 13 million of these hungry Americans are deemed to be children.
As we know, when children are hungry they do not learn. This is a travesty that can and should be prevented. Currently over 90,000 schools and 28 million children participate each school day in the School Lunch Program. The children of families whose income levels are below 130 percent of poverty are eligible for free school meals and those families whose income levels are between 130 percent and 185 percent of poverty are eligible for reduced price meals.
Unfortunately, many state and local school boards have informed me that parents are finding it difficult to pay the reduced fee, and for some families the fee is an insurmountable barrier to participation. That is why I am a strong supporter of legislation to eliminate the reduced price fee and harmonize the free income guideline with the WIC income guideline. I am proud to say that a pilot program to eliminate the reduced price fee in up to five states was included in last year’s reauthorization of Child Nutrition and WIC. I have encouraged the Appropriations Committee to include funding for this pilot program, and I look forward to working with them on this very important issue which touches so many families going through difficult times.
In my home state of North Carolina, more than 900,000 of our 8.2 million residents are dealing with hunger, according to the most recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our state has faced significant economic hardship over the last few years as once-thriving towns have been hit hard by the closing of textile mills and furniture factories. And this story is not unlike so many others across the nation.
Many Americans who have lost their manufacturing jobs have been fortunate enough to find new employment in the changing climate of today’s workforce. But simply being able to hold down a job doesn’t necessarily guarantee your family three square meals a day. And there are organizations who are addressing this need as a mission field.
Groups like the Society of St. Andrew, the only comprehensive program in North Carolina that gleans available produce from farms, and then sorts, packages, processes, transports and delivers excess food to feed the hungry. In 2004, the Society gleaned more than 4.2 million pounds of food – or 12.8 million servings! Incredibly - it only costs ONE penny a serving to glean and deliver this food to those in need. And all of this work is done by the hands of the 9,200 volunteers and a tiny staff!
Gleaning is a practice we should utilize much more extensively today. It’s astounding that the most recent figures available indicate that approximately 96 billion pounds of good, nutritious food – including that at the farm and retail level – is left over or thrown away. A tomato farmer in western North Carolina sends 20,000 pounds of tomatoes to landfills each day
during harvest season.
This can’t be good for the environment. In fact, food is the single largest component of our solid waste stream…more than yard trimmings or even newspapers! Some of it does decompose…but it often takes several years. Other food just sits in landfills, literally mummified. Putting this food to good use through gleaning will reduce the amount of waste going to our already overburdened landfills. And I am so appreciative of my friends at Environmental Defense for working closely with us on this issue.
Like any humanitarian endeavor, the gleaning system works because of cooperative efforts. Clearly private organizations and individuals are doing a great job – but they are doing so with limited resources. It is up to us to make some changes on the public side and help leverage scarce dollars to feed the hungry.
I continue to hear that transportation is the single biggest concern for gleaners. I am proud to say that with the help of organizations like the American Trucking Association, the Society of Saint Andrew and America’s Second Harvest, we are taking steps to ease that transportation concern. In February of this year, I reintroduced a bill that will change the tax code to give transportation companies tax incentives for volunteering trucks to transfer gleaned food. I am proud to have the support of my colleagues, Senators Dodd, Burr, Lugar, Alexander, Santorum, Durbin, Lautenberg and Lincoln, as original cosponsors, and I look forward to working with them on passage of this important bill.
I am also privileged to work with Senators Lincoln and Lautenberg on a soon-to-be-introduced bill to provide up to $200,000 per fiscal year to eligible entities willing to carry out food rescue and job training. Entities like the Community Culinary School of Charlotte, a private, non-profit organization in North Carolina that provides training and job placement in the food service industry for people who are unemployed or underemployed.
Here is how it works. The Community Culinary School recruits students from social
service agencies, homeless shelters, halfway houses and work release programs. They then work in collaboration with food rescue agencies in the area to provide meals to homebound individuals and to local homeless shelters. The food they rescue is donated and picked up from restaurants, grocers and wholesalers. The students then prepare nutritious meals using the donated food while at the same time developing both culinary and life skills.
Take a young lady from this program named Sibyl. After years of drugs, prisons and unplanned pregnancies, Sibyl entered the Community Culinary School of Charlotte. Her willingness and determination made her the top student of her class and she is today working full time as a chef.
Or take Bobby, who also graduated from the program. Bobby went from unemployment and homelessness to becoming a top graduate, now working two jobs and living independently. Our bill is intended to complement these kinds of private efforts that support food rescue and job skills which can make the greatest impact on individual lives.
In Deuteronomy 15:7, the Bible tells us, “If there is among you a poor man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother.” So Mr. President, as our fellow citizens in the private sector continue to be a giving people, let us find ways as public servants to once again harness the great public-private effort, and fight as one to end hunger in America. I again thank my colleagues who have worked so hard to build these partnerships. And I implore our friends on both sides of the aisle – as well as the good people throughout this great country – to join us in this heartfelt mission – this grassroots network of compassion that transcends political ideology and provides hope and security not only for those in need today – but for future generations as well. Thank you, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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| Elizabeth Dole |
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