Release No. 0379.99

Andy Solomon (202) 720-4623
andy.solomon@usda.gov

Joel Berg (202) 720-5746
joel.berg@usda.gov

USDA STUDY REVEALS SUCCESS AND GAPS IN HUNGER FIGHTING EFFORTS

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 1999 A new study released today by Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman indicates that non-profit organizations could greatly increase their donations of food to the hungry if Congress approves the Clinton Administration's request for funding for infrastructure grants.

"Despite the booming national economy, over three million American children live in households that suffer from hunger," said Glickman. "We must do more to strengthen the nutritional safety net and help nonprofit groups and faith-based organizations feed the hungry." 

The study of food banks and food recovery organizations in Mid-Atlantic states finds these organizations are forced to discard 20 percent of all donated produce due to gaps in their infrastructure, gaps which are even more pronounced in rural areas. Such challenges could be alleviated if these groups had funding to reduce transportation costs and obtain additional
refrigerated transportation and storage space. 

Citing the study, which was conducted by USDA's Economic Research Service, Glickman today renewed his call for Congress to fund the Clinton Administration's request for $15 million in infrastructure grants to help food banks, faith-based organizations, and other non-profits to expand their anti-hunger efforts. 

Although the collection of perishable foods, especially fresh produce, is on the rise, donations of most other types of foods were flat, and there remains a large gap between the amount of surplus food available and the amount actually recovered. Glickman said today that he has sent a letter to farmers markets across the country urging them to donate excess food to non-profit, anti-hunger groups in their area. 

Today's report is based on data collected from food banks and food rescue organizations in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. In 1997, each of the region's 42 food recovery organizations distributed about 3.4 million pounds of food, an increase of over 20 percent from 1994. Each organization provided food to an average of 180 client agencies, such as food pantries and soup kitchens, which served an estimated 50,000 recipients. In total, these non-profit food recovery and distribution efforts served about 142-million pounds of food to an estimated 2.2 million people. 

While this amount of food assistance is significant, it represents only 7.5 percent of the 1.9 billion pounds of food provided to the same region through USDA's Food Stamp Program, indicating that the federal nutrition safety net remains the primary weapon in fighting hunger in the U.S. 

In addition to this regional study of food recovery organizations, USDA is currently sponsoring a comprehensive, nationally representative study of the entire U.S. emergency food assistance system, including food recovery organizations, food pantries, and emergency kitchens.

USDA has created or aided grassroots food recovery projects in over 40 states, helping to facilitate the donation of over 6 million pounds of excess food. In recognition of this accomplishment, USDA's Farm Service Agency was recently awarded a Vice-Presidential Hammer Award. 

USDA is sponsoring a national Summit on Community Food Security in Chicago, October 14 and 15. The Summit will highlight issues relating to food insecurity and hunger, help build new public-private partnerships, highlight best practices of existing anti-hunger efforts, and generate new commitments to fight hunger in the United States. 

The report is available on the web at http://www.ers.usda.gov  or by calling (202) 694-5139. 

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